What lies within
by Peter Farkas
Summary: This is my fiction of Season Three, "Villains". Questions, answers will appear, heroes and villains will be forged and everyone will continue on the path of his or her.
1. Chapter 1: Pathways

**Disclaim: I do not own any rights of Heroes series**

_**Italics mean characters are not speaking English**_

**The story may contain few events from short stories or rumors, but I'm working to avoid these.**

**Chapter One: Pathways**

Good or bad. Survive or perish. Fight or flight. Black or white. Kill or get killed. Is this really destiny? Is this how we determine our paths, our future? Always choosing between two alternatives. Maybe, it is. If fate grabs your hand, everything you ever was, ever experienced, ever believed in, can disappear in a second. And then, you can't do anything else. Go with fate, or try to fight it. Fly straight to heaven or fall to the deep burdens of hell. Two other dichotomies, again. Isn't there a third option?

* * *

"I know, Dr. Suresh. You are our first priority now." said Bob. Mohinder was on the other side of the phone. "Sylar cannot find _any _piece, anything that could lead him to the Company. So, pick a cab, take Molly with you and drive to JFK. Two plane tickets will be waiting for you."

"Where to?" asked the doctor.

"Albuquerque, New Mexico. Soon you'll be able to meet your new partner."

"I get a new partner?"

"Yes, a person, who'll fit your needs much more than my daughter."

The line disconnected so he was finally alone, just staring at Elle. She didn't say a word. She didn't know what to say. Her glimpse to the video surveillance system was against her father's orders. Clearly. And Sylar got away, too. But he really did save many lives. Important people's lives. And now, here she is and he couldn't hear any emotion from her father's voice when he mentioned her. He sat down slowly, constantly looking at her.

After a few moments, he smiled. She smiled back faintly.

"I was very concerned about you. But you didn't disappoint me. So, you deserve a prize for that. You're back on track again.

When she heard this, she was so happy, that she jumped in to the air again and again, like a teenage girl. She jumped to his dad, and gave him a huge hug.

"Thank you, Daddy." She was very happy, she almost cried.

But Bob didn't hug her really.

"You'll get a new partner, too. At least a temporary one." he said.

"Oh." She was a bit disappointed, but if this was the price to get him back to action, she thought she could accept it.

She turned around, saw her new partner and her face fell.

He was standing in the office, just a couple of meters away from her. Noah Bennet. The man who wanted to kill her father and the man who she saw get killed. And who told her the truth.

* * *

Mohinder's cell phone rang the second time that afternoon. First he thought it would be Bob again, but then he heard a much familiar voice.

"Where the hell are you?" asked Matt. He was clearly in bad mood.

"On a way out of the city." answered the professor. "And in my opinion, you should do the same."

"Why? What the hell happened?"

"Sylar found me."

"Sylar?" interrupted Matt. "Isn't he supposed to be dead?"

"We thought he was. Turns out, we all were wrong."

"And you think he would come back?"

"The Company is clearing my lab in this very moment. We are in great danger. Including you. Don't let him find you. Disappear."

"Wait, I have a job here. A life." A dangerous but magnificent idea came to his mind. "Wait, even if he comes here, maybe I can stop him. I'm much stronger than I was last time. I could change his mind, or even suggest him a suicide."

"And what if it won't work? You'll get yourself killed and he will have terrible power. No, you should get out. Think about her."

Matt sighed.

"OK, just let me talk to her before you leave."

Mohinder gave the phone to Molly.

"Matt." she said quietly.

"Listen, I have to ask you a favor. Can you think of the boogey-man for a second?"

She closed her eyes and thought about him.

"Where is he? Is he heading here?"

"No" she said" he's moving, but ... he's getting out of town, too."

"Thank you, Molly. I love you. And I'll come to see you as soon as possible."

"I love you too."

But Mohinder was worried about what Molly said about Sylar's position.

* * *

If he had believed in God, he would have considered it a miracle. But he knew it wasn't God's business. He looked at his body. The scars all healed, the pain all gone. And he got his powers back. It was his destiny. But he also had a lot of things ahead of him. His way, his destiny was clear. He saw it on Suresh's laptop. But he had to move fast. He must be the one who gets there first. To the other side of the country. To Costa Verde.

* * *

"_You wanted to see me?"_ Hiro Nakamura hasn't been at the CEO's office for a long time. As a child, sometimes he even sneaked in, just to surprise his father, although he knew Kaito didn't like it. Now, the office (and the company with it) belonged to another Nakamura: his sister, Kimiko.

"_Yes, I wanted to see you, brother. But not as one of my employees." _As she spoke, small tears appeared in her eyes. "_You spoke well at the cemetery. I have to honor almost as much as you honored our father. You were very brave."_

"_Thank you. But I guess" _he said, looking at his sister _"this is not why you called me."_

"_I want you what you did. To our father's killer."_

"_How do you know that."_

"_Ando told me." _He was a bit worried and disappointed. He hoped Ando could keep the secret. The question was, should it kept hidden from his sister too.

"_I disarmed him. He'll harm no one again."_

"_You killed him?"_ asked she with a disgusted look for a moment.

"_No, I didn't"_

She took a deep breath but didn't speak for a few seconds.

"_And what about your future? Saving the world? And what about Yamagato?_

"_Yamagato will work well with you in charge. And if the world needs me, I must be there for it. I must be concerned about the future. About the world's future."_

"_You say you can change the future. As well as the past What if anyone else needs you?"_

"_That's not so simple. I can't just come back. Time is much more complicated than I could imagine. What do you expect me, to get back to work in the cubicle?"_

"_I'm just trying to tell you, you've got a family."_

"_Can't you understand? I must think bigger. I have this power. I will not just sit here and watch the world get ruined. That would be a waste of my power."_

She stepped closer to her brother, and he thought she might get angry, just like their father may years ago.

"_Then tell me, Hiro, what will you do?"_

He couldn't answer.

* * *

Micah simply wasn't able to stop crying. Although they were surrounded by many police cars and officers, who were now interrogating Monica, the gang member got caught, but was it worth? Just a couple of months after he lost his father, he lost his mother, too. He wished he could change back everything, to normal, even leave D. L.'s medal, just too get Niki back. In fact, he must leave the medal, the last piece of his father. It's impossible that wasn't destroyed in the explosion. He was selfish and careless, and he paid a fatal price for it. Death was all around him, all around the family, all around heroism, it has just missed Monica too. He had to think. And mourn. He wasn't ready for that. He maybe got a new family, but will he be able to forget the old one, leave it behind? He didn't want to stay here, so far from his memories, from his father's grave. But what else could he do?

"I'm sorry." said Monica calmly.

"It's not your fault. It's all mine."

"How can you say that? You acted like a family. And you saved me." she added.

"I shouldn't have drawn you into this."

"Then do what? Let it go? With your gifts?"

"They have used nothing!" he yelled. "I have nothing!"

Monica scared first, surprised of Micah's anger, but she calmed down fast and hugged him.

"I just want to help you." she whispered.

"I just don't know if I could help anybody. Or if I could be helped."

Monica stared at Micah. She knew he was just eleven, but as she looked in his eyes, he seemed a lot older.

* * *

"Damn, how can an idea like this come to my father's mind?" asked Elle. She looked at Noah but he just drove without a blink on her.

"I was just thinking if I could get some of that blood..."

"Shut up!" said Bennet harshly.

"Can you imagine how annoying it is?"

"Yes, I can. After Kirby Plaza I wore one too."

"And what about you? How can you say nothing?"

He slowed down and parked the car.

"Listen here, buzzing girl. I didn't want this situation. Probably you can imagine how I feel about Bob now, but for me, there's no other option. I must follow his orders, no matter how annoying they are. And if he says we're heading to..." His cell phone interrupted the conversation.

"We just had to mention him." said Noah before he pushed the green button. But he looked away from Elle again.

"We're sending some of our people to Costa Verde" said Bob just like a weather report.

"What?" yelled Noah. "Don't forget Elle's with me. You touch my family and you don't have my loyalty any more."

"We just want to protect them."

"From what?! They should be protected from you and your damned company."

"Calm down and listen." said Bob. "Dr. Suresh has just called me and he informed me that Sylar might be heading to Costa Verde."

"Sylar? I saw that man die!"

"No, you just saw him collapse. But he survived. And as I said you'll take care of your business, which is Byron Bevington and I'll take care of mine."

"It is my..." Noah started, but the Bob wasn't on the phone any more.

He started driving again but after just a few meters, he turned back.

"Hey" shouted Elle "turn back or...

"Shoot me down? I wouldn't like to imagine what would happen to the car then and with your pretty face, too. But my family is at stake and I can't afford any mistakes."

* * *

Peter sat outside the police department in Odessa, trying to wipe his tears away. It wasn't an easy thing to do. After being used like this, just a moment and he lost the only person who could give him direction, strength, the only person who he could lean on.

A cab suddenly appeared in front of him, and his mother stepped out of it. Her eyes were also red and wet from tears.

Peter stood up immediately and stared at her but she couldn't say a word.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm here to mourn. And to find forgiveness."

"From me?"

"No, from him."

Peter gulped and looked around. He was distracted.

"So you can't let him go either?"

Angela put her hand on Peter's shoulders.

"You should. We both should. He's gone."

Peter turned around and stepped away.

"Why are you saying this? It should have been me. If I had talked, none of this would have happened. I would have survived the shot."

"Peter" whispered Angela. "You must know you're not invincible."

"I know. I can't regenerate my brain. But he was shot in the chest."

She slued him.

"Stop blaming yourself. You can't bring him back."

And as Peter looked at his mother and listened to her, he suddenly remembered. And the solution was clear.

"No. You're not right. I can bring him back. I can travel through time. I can save him."

"Peter" she said, but it was just a moment, and he was gone. "Peter. Peter!" she shouted.

* * *

She looked around. Wait! She stopped thinking. How can she look around? Or is this heaven? Is this death? If it is, she wouldn't imagined it like this. She was lying on something and she couldn't see anything, although there was some light.

She tried to sit up but she almost cried because of the pain. Every inch of her body was aching, like all of her skin was burning. But she knew, the dead don't feel pain. She raised her arm, trying to get a glimpse on it. It was horrible. She couldn't even see her fingernails, because her skin was all burnt like it was melted. She took a deep breath. It also caused pain, but she had to.

Suddenly she heard something. A door opening.

"God help me" whispered Niki.


	2. Chapter 2: Thus spoke Zarathustra

**Chapter Two: Thus spoke Zarathustra**

"God help me" whispered Niki.

"You shouldn't say this." said someone. No doubt it was a man's voice. "He already helped you."

"Where am I?" she asked. "And who are you?"

The man didn't answer. Instead, he lit some candles, but as Niki couldn't raise her head, she still didn't see him. Until the man leaned over her. He was black, and resembled very much to D.L except he was a lot younger and he had curly, dark hair. And his face was a lot dirtier.

"Who are you?" asked she again.

"A friend." he said and turned away.

"Wait" she wanted to shout it out, but her voice wasn't strong enough. "How am I alive?"

"We found you at the diner, just after the accident."

"How am I still alive?" she repeated.

"That's another day's story. I gotta go."

She tried to call him back, but instead she just asked him "What's your name?"

There was silence for a moment.

"I'm Samuel." he answered.

"Thank you, Samuel. I'm Niki."

He closed the door and she was left alone again. Just the pain and the need of answers.

* * *

"No. You're not right. I can bring him back. I can travel through time. I can save him." said Peter and he concentrated on the time Nathan was shot. He just had a few hours to go back.

He wanted to appear at the back of the people who surrounded the conference. He thought the shot came from back there. He appeared just where he wanted, time was frozen, many of the people were staring as they were waiting for Nathan's greatest announcement.

But one of them was doing even more. He was pulling a gun out of his coat. He was frozen as time was stopped around him. Peter had all the time he needed to stop him.

"No!" he yelled. He was stuck too, he couldn't use his power. Suddenly, a terrible noise appeared in his mind. Like he was hearing a falsely calibrated radio at maximum volume. He shouted as he realized he can't control himself.

The scene of Nathan's murder dissolved and he just saw a bright light. Bright as the sun at noon. Than he blacked out.

* * *

Someone loudly knocked on the door of the Bennets' house.

A few moments later, Sandra Bennet opened it.

"May I come on?" asked a young, blond, handsome guy in front of the door.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Bob sent me here. I'm here to help."

"I don't have anything t discuss with your boss. We're out of this." she started to close the door, but he stopped it.

"You have listen to me. Your husband isn't allowed to help you and Claire will really need help."

"About what? And tell me" she said before he could answer "why am I listening to you."

"Because you want your daughter alive." said he with Sandra's voice.

Air temperature seemed to drop sub-zero.

"Mom!" shouted Claire.

"Can I talk to her?" Sandra heard her own voice again.

Claire came out of the house and stood still beside her mother.

"Mom, who's this?" asked Claire.

He gave her his hand. It was shaking.

"Call me Nick." said he with his own calm voice. "I'm here to save the cheerleader."

"Save me?" he was surprised because of the last sentence. "Save me from what?"

"From a villain. I think we'd better get in."

A few seconds later Nick and the three Bennets were sitting around the dining table.

"Sylar's not dead. And we got a sure information that he's heading here. There's only one reasonable cause."

Claire couldn't speak a word when she heard the name. She was only one of them who really met the serial killer and remembered it, too.

"What Sylar?" asked Sandra.

"He's a murderer. He kills people with abilities. And now he wants Claire."

"What do you want me to do?" asked Claire before anyone could spoke.

"Not just you. We want the whole family to leave. In this moment."

"I don't leave without Noah." interrupted Sandra.

"You'll have to. We don't want anyone to get in danger – expect me" he added after a short time.

"What?" asked all three of them.

"Yes" said another person "we want to trap Sylar here. And Nicholas is the perfect one for the job."

Everyone but Nick turned around, but none of them recognized the middle-aged man. He resembled a bit to Noah but he was shorter and his face was rougher.

"Why?" asked Claire. "And who are you?"

"I'm Nicholas' partner. Our rules say I must look after him. And, if you haven't noticed..."

"I can alter my voice" Suddenly, everyone turned back to Nicholas. He's just used Claire's voice. Everyone stared at him, but he was looking like a little boy caught on some wrongdoing.

"So, are you in?" asked the company agent.

They didn't spoke for a long time.

"If you changed your mind" the agent said "we're waiting outside with the vans."

* * *

New Mexico was quite a change for Mohinder. He haven't lived much in New York but he just got used to its air, its people, its milieu. Here, first of all, he was sweating heavily, he felt he could be cooked alive.

"Dr. Suresh" a woman called his name behind his back. But he didn't want any acquaintance. He just wanted to be left alone with Molly until his new partner will arrive. And still, he felt sorry for her. He couldn't imagine, and in fact he didn't want to imagine, how hard could it be to her, being always on the run, hiding and always looking for new dangers. So he didn't want to be discovered and he sped up.

"Dr. Suresh" called the woman again. "I'm not as fast as you. Dr Suresh."

He could take it no more, and at last, he turned back. A small, Asian woman was following them.

"What do you want from me?" asked he angrily.

"If you let me, I'll tell you." answered she while she was wheezing. "Nice to meet you. I'm Doctor Wang. I'm your new partner."

They shook hands which gave Mohinder a shocking surprise. The doctor's right arm was artificial.

"If you're my partner you supposed to have an ability." he whispered. "I'm keen to know what it is."

"Imagine working with someone like Gabriel Gray." answered she, just under her breath.

The name stunned Mohinder.

* * *

"_You see, Ando"_ began Hiro _"I can't just sit here and wait for something terrible to happen. I got this gift, and I know I must use it."_

"_But what else can you do, Hiro?" _he asked.

"_Anything. I can go anywhere, anytime."_

"_You can't play God. You deal with things other's couldn't ever imagine. But don't let this drove you out of yourself."_

"_Out of myself?! I'm supposed to be a hero."_

"_And you are! You are Kensei!"_

"_It's not just that. A superhero must be aware of the others. To take care of them. To save them."_

"_You've saved New York. You've saved the world. Not even once, maybe."_

"_But what if it's not enough?"_

"_That's what I told you. If you keep thinking about this, it'll drive you out of yourself and will eat you up like a monster. You have a life. If you don't deal with it, you'll lose it."_

* * *

"So how is our new patient, Luc?" asked Bob calmly. He didn't want to show how much he cared about Maya Herrera. He knew she would be an excellent addition to the Company's group of powered humans. But he hasn't given any orders for specific treatment.

"Well, obviously in discomfort. Nobody likes being locked up. But, except that, she's quite well. Only tried to kill me once."

"When will she be ready for training?" He was curious about this.

"Hours. Days. Who knows? I hope she won't kill too much of us."

"Well, I guess it's my task to worry about." He knew he didn't have any reason for that. They had Claire's blood.

He stepped forward, to the window of her room. She couldn't see him through the glass. She looked sad. And desperate. And he knew, they could use that desperation. If she can't kill Sylar, nobody can.

* * *

"They won't come" said Nick. "Until we bring the father here."

"Yes, they will." said Clinton DeFargau, his partner. "They won't risk their lives."

"It's not fair for them." he remembered his parents' face when Bob come for him and told him about everything he's done at high school and that he had wanted him. And his ability. Almost two years ago and since then, he only met his father once. They wanted him to disappear, so he disappeared.

"Course, it's not. But there'll always be hard decisions."

"How can you just sit here without any emotion?"

"You'll learn it." He looked at the rear-view mirror and saw the Bennet family coming out of their house with huge boxes. "Lucky that you didn't bet on it." he added.

As they got out of the van, Claire put down the box she was carrying, and talked to DeFargau.

"You'll give me an hour." she stated. It seemed it'll be very hard to persuade her.

DeFargau looked like he was thinking about the proposal.

"We're agreed. You've got an hour."

He walked to the front of the van and also called Nicholas there.

"I'll take care of the family. You'll look after her."

"You want me to spy on her?" he whispered.

"Like I said. Hard decisions. Get after her!"

Clinton was totally right. It really was a hard thing to do. And not just because of the spying.

* * *

"I guess you don't want to get to Costa Verde by car." said Elle impassively.

"Of course not." answered Noah.

"And how do you stop me when we're getting out of the car?"

"I'm just counting on you."

"After all you've done to me?"

"After all you've done to me. You and your father. Just imagine. If you had a child, what would you do in my position?"

Elle did just that. She thought about it. She knew Noah was getting closer to his goal with any second as trees changed to buildings. Funny she never thought of never even dreamed of a normal life like this. Getting married, having a child. She just didn't have the rights to think about that. How can she even dream about this when can shock anybody to death. Like everyone he loves would be near high voltage constantly. In fact, she never had the right to love anybody. She thought about what would her father do. She didn't have to guess. She knew the answer for that. But the main question was, has she been really different from him? She didn't want be someone like her father. Would she be able, be ready to cause such pain? She looked for the answers but she didn't found any of them. She thought about her father. The only person in her life, she really cared about. What would he do, and what will she do with her?

"Get out!" said Bennet. "I hope you'll make the right choice."

"Me too." She quickly took Noah's hand and shocked him. He fell but Elle's plan has worked. He was unconscious but undoubtedly alive.

* * *

"I'm here, Detective Fuller." reported Matt to his chief. They were called to crime scene and he has just arrived. The place was full of the smell of murder. If someone had felt this smell before, he could never forget it.

"Name's Joe Carson. 49 years old, divorced. Haven't worked for about six months." Fuller began to read the file in his hand. "Once charged with a fine."

"What did he do?"

"It says dangerous driving. What the...? His car slipped on an oil slick and he hit a young girl."

"What the hell? And he was just fined?" He immediately thought about Molly. He couldn't imagine losing her. "And what happened? Did we find anything?"

"Well, he was strangled but we didn't found the killer weapon. I think it was a wire or something like that."

"What makes you think that?" He looked around looking for extraordinary things around the small flat.

"His neck looks like the killer didn't use bare hands."

Matt continued the look around and think. This is his luck. A case in which can't use his power. No witnesses, no lies. He opened the door to the balcony.

"Did you find the door locked?"

"Yeah." answered Fuller.

" We're up on a twenty-storey building. The killer had to get in here. The killer had a key to the flat. I guess this makes pretty few suspects. And what about all these damned spider webs?"

"We found so much alcohol in his blood that could have easily killed an elephant. I guess cleaning up simply wasn't his passion."

"Right. Than I'll check out the neighborhood. If anyone saw something I want to talk to them."

"Good luck, Parkman." said Fuller. "I haven't seen the CSI report but I think he's been lying here for a long time."

"So you think no one has seen anything?"

He nodded. "But if you want to try, go on."

Matt felt quite alone and powerless. And he didn't like that feeling.

* * *

Sylar knew that now, when he is hunted of all the cops in New York, it would have been a very foolish step, to fly to California directly from JFK. That's why he took the train to Pittsburgh first. It might be an easier to task to get on a plane there.

He was secure. He trusted himself again, now that he had his powers back. He took a seat. A dark-haired, young girl sat opposite him. She was reading that book again. The book he saw so much. Activating Evolution.

"Are you interested in genetics?" asked he as the train began to move.

The girl took a look of him and then smiled.

"Actually, not." he pulled another book from her bag and gave it to him. "I'm majoring in Philosophy."

Interesting, thought Sylar. He looked at the book. It was Thus spoke Zarathustra from Friedrich Nietzsche.

"I've never read this." he whispered. "But what's the point? What has this to do with Suresh's book?"

"Well" the girl take a deep breath "if you haven't read it you might not see it. But this book, Suresh's is quite inflaming. Think about it. Theoretically, if these people existed. It's a very fascinating question. Nietzsche states we're some kind of transition to the overhumans. He might not referred to the transition Suresh mentions, but..."

"Wait." interrupted Sylar. "Overhuman? What is that?"

Another deep breath. "Well, it's quite hard to describe the overman. But, in my interpretation, the overman is a "total person". The overman carries a horrible amount of creativity, energy and responsibility with it, an immense power. He or she wants to be "over" the society, which means he kind of steps in God's position giving moral instructions to others with her or his acts, giving purpose and meaning."

"Step in God's position? What does that mean? Save the world..."

"I think it's more teaching others to save it. But it is not a stable part. You see, there are various theories about this and false explanations about this, like the Nazis have done it many years ago. But at the level of the overman, morality can easily lose its whole meaning."

"How? The overman is allowed to kill, too?"

"If he or she needs to, I guess, yes. But that's the last option."

"So these people..."

"Can be the overmen? Possibly. But becoming an overman is a question of will, too."

Sylar was a bit surprised how this girl's speech fascinated him, too.

"I'm Gabriel" introduced himself. But he didn't say his full name. He couldn't know if she could be trusted.

"I'm Marie. Marie Williams."

"It was an honor to meet you. It might seem banal, but can I ask for your phone number. You really are special."

Marie's face turned red immediately.

* * *

"So what did you mean with this?" asked Mohinder from his new partner.

"Where's Molly?" she asked.

"She's looking around in the new flat. And I guess she'll sleep then. But you haven't answered and if you won't I'll go away as well and take Molly with me."

"Would you just sit down? I'll answer you." She sighed. Looked like she didn't want to begin this. "I lost my arm when I was seven. My life depended just on my luck but I survived."

"I'm not really interested in your childhood memories."

"They knew I was talented. I attended to a university in Shanghai when I was 16. Four years later I 've come here to New Mexico. I was twenty-two when I constructed the first version of this artificial arm and a year ago I constructed this one. And as far as we know it's the most sensitive artificial arm. This is my power. I can think. In fact, I'm paid to think. I can see sense in problems, things where others don't. And there is only one person we know who has an ability similar to this."

"Sylar. So you know how his ability works."

"Well, I saw things and on the grounds of this, I have guesses."

"But your guesses are usually good."

"That's why I'm here."

* * *

Hiro didn't just feel lonely. He was bored. Very bored. He was surfing on the Internet and saw how terrible things had happened in the world or just in Japan. But he knew he couldn't do anything. He couldn't change the past. It would not be right. But all these accidents, disasters and crimes. He couldn't accept that he could do nothing.

But... a great idea came to his mind. If he travels to the future and comes to know with the future dangers, he can come back to the present and change history. That would be a real heroic act. Maybe a bit mundane but naturally a hero stuff.

Ando has just stepped into his cubicle. Hiro turned towards him.

"_I'll do it." _shouted heand disappeared.

* * *

Peter woke up in a park. Someone was shaking him. He looked up and saw a beautiful girl's face. The wind was softly blowing her blond hair and her look was so charming. After a few moments, he looked around. He wanted to know where he was. He didn't really saw anything familiar.

"You're at National Mall. Pretty strange place to fall asleep" said she.

"What National Mall? Where?"

"In D. C., of course. Shouldn't I call an ambulance?"

"No, thanks, I'm fine." answered Peter as he stood up.

He looked around again. There was just sunset. And he saw two vans, decorated with rainbows and colored flowers.

"What, what time is it?" he stammered.

She looked at her watch. "About quarter to eight. Why?"

"No, tell me the year, please."

"Seventy-two. Are you sure you're all right?"

"Seventy-two. OK." repeated Peter near to being stunned. How on earth did he get here?


	3. Chapter 3: Accidentally

**Chapter 3: Accidentally**

We can and must think about the question: why are we trying to imitate God? Why do we want ourselves in the place of God? Some say, this is the human nature. But, speaking about that, we must not forget, that we are not the masterpiece, but the experiment. We're not the scientists watching reactions consciously. We're just the mice, looking for the end of the labyrinth.

* * *

"What, what time is it?" he stammered.

She looked at her watch. "About quarter to eight. Why?"

"No, tell me the year, please."

"Seventy-two. Are you sure you're all right?"

"Seventy-two. OK." repeated Peter near to being stunned. How on earth did he get here?

"Are you sure you're OK?" she asked.

"Yeah." His voice sounded a bit stronger. "Yeah, thanks for your help. I'm just traveling. I'm going away soon."

"Foreign, ha? Well, people in your country don't introduce themselves?"

"I'm Nathan. Nathan Monroe." He said the first name coming to his mind. He didn't want to say his own, because he was in the past, and didn't want to cause some trouble by using his own name. He wasn't even born.

"Well, if you insist. I'm Olivia Tuzzio. So, do you have a place to rest for the night?"

"So far not. But I'm not staying for a long time. Really." And accidentally he heard her voice inside his head. "What a pity. If have wouldn't go he could rest at my place. Such a pretty boy."

And then she spoke. "Well, then, have a good journey. Bye"

"Yeah, thanks. It'll be a nice long one. Goodbye."

She was starting to leave and he waited before she got out of his sight. He didn't want to be seen. He was concentrating, he wanted to get back to Nathan's assassination. But it did not work. He tried for 2007. He tried it harder than last time. But he could not get back this time, either.

But how? If he could get here there must be a way out. He should be able to get out of here. He started to panic. He didn't know the answer, why he was here. Why not at the scene of the murder? And why here? He could have landed anywhere in history, why did he choose this one? Or did he hr choose this? He was unconfined. He sat down in the grass. Have he lost all of his abilities? He saw a used handkerchief. He wanted it to move and it moved. It flew into the air. So telekinesis has worked. Mind-reading has worked. In that case, why couldn't he travel through space and time?

* * *

Claire knocked on the door once again. There was no answer for her first try. Is it possible that nobody's there? She knew what has happened in the last couple of days, but there was only one thing in her life in California she couldn't take with her and didn't want to leave.

A woman, about the simple age in Sandra was, opened the door.

"Are you Claire?" she asked. She was definitely surprised.

"Is West at home, Mrs. Rosen?"

"No, darling, he's at school of course."

"Thank you" she answered as fast as she can and she started running. She looked at her watch: she has already lost ten minutes. Ten valuable minutes. Her heart was working like a powerhouse, but not just because of running. She didn't look back. She knew she had no time for it.

* * *

Niki heard the door opening again.

"Hello Samuel." she said.

"Hi Niki." he answered while he was leaning over her again, to look into her eyes. "I brought you help."

"What..." she wanted to ask what help but she felt fingers touching her forehead and then she felt she was in another world. She realized that none of the pain she felt was real. She couldn't move but why did she want to. She was in some white, fluid-like thing something like a mixture of milk and air. And she could breathe. She felt the oxygen in her lungs. She was calm. She thought if this was death. Because if it was, it was much easier and much more comfortable than she ever thought. She felt like she could fly.

And than, it all disappeared in one moment. The pain came back, her skin was aching even when she was breathing. Just like before. She heard something, something similar to a collapsing man.

"Abe! Abe!" Samuel was shouting to someone beside Niki. He fell down on his knees, calling Abe again and again.

"I'm fine." whispered a high voice, quite similar to Micah's. Micah came to Niki's mind. She wanted to sit up. She moved her right arm but then the pain forced her lying.

"You took too much." said Samuel.

"I'm OK, Sam." Abe said.

But she wasn't really listening to them. Suddenly she realized she could move her arm. She raised it again, just to get it into her sight. There wasn't a scratch on it. It was whole, the skin on it didn't seem to be damaged either.

There could only be one reason for that.

"You..." she stammered. "You have power?"

Samuel leaned over her but looked at Niki like he's just saw a nightmare.

* * *

Ando has just stepped into his cubicle. Hiro turned towards him.

"_I'll do it." _shouted heand disappeared.

He appeared in front of the Yamagato building. It seemed like it was in the morning, quite early. Just like he wanted. He saw a man at the other side of the street who was selling newspapers. He could hardly wait for the light to turn green but he didn't want to use his powers now, near so many people.

He bought a daily paper and looked at the date. It was March 29th, a bit more than a week after the day he left. He looked at something in what he could help. What he could change. He saw that there was an explosion and a huge fire at a skyscraper yesterday. He looked up and he was full of confidence. At last, he knew what to do. He could understand how Superman looked up in the skies, seeking for his duty. And than, he saw two familiar faces on the other side, just in front of the building. Ando and Kimiko were just walking inside. They were holding each other's hand. They were together. Hiro thought tears were in his sister's eyes. It took just a moment for his confidence to disappear like it has never been there.

Were they talking about this all along?

* * *

"Why did you come here? Shouldn't you deal with the funeral?" asked Bob.

"There are some things more important than that." answered Angela Petrelli. "I'm here to ask you a favor."

"What made you so careful lately?" he asked. He was surprised. He knew there was a much easier way for her.

"Because my favor has a lot to do with you." answered she quietly.

"We haven't spoke for a long time."

"Since Daniel revealed his plan." she interrupted.

"Yeah, precisely. So if it's connected with me, it should be very old."

"Almost thirty years."

He was stunned.

"What do you want me to do?"

"You have to find Nicolai."

"Nicolai?" He thought he'll never hear that name. "You mean..."

"Nicolai Starnov. The would-be dead son of our old friend."

"How do you know? Do you have proof?"

"I've spoken with him."

"What? What have you done? And when? And why are you telling me this just now?"

A terrible voice erupted before Angela could answer. The voice of a huge blast or jolt and the door of the office was cracked apart.

"Elle?" asked he as he saw his daughter. "What are you doing here?"

"I guess I shouldn't disturb this pleasant family speech." said Angela with a grim smile looking at Elle's furious face.

"You don't have to leave. Sorry but I had to use a bit of my persuasive powers on the guards."

"You killed them?" asked Bob with disgust on his face.

"No, I didn't. Should I? That's what you wanted from me?" she shouted angrily. "Answer! That's what you wanted? Or were they valuable? Even more valuable than myself. Your own daughter."

"Elle..." called Bob her name.

"Shut up! I've had enough of all your lies and rules. I'm here to say I'm leaving. And don't start coming after me!

"Elle, please..."

"Don't cause me more damage that you've already caused!"

"What damage?"

"Don't try to fool me! You made me this way. You can't imagine what you've done. Cages and death threats all around my life. So, get out of it now!" She turned around and started to run.

"Elle!" He shouted and wanted to rush after her but she shot a lightning bolt that missed his head by only a few inches.

"Sweet little girl, isn't she?" said Angela. Her voice was still. "Turns out you weren't the best father ever. But we'd better talk about our own case."

"Were you sweet mommy that you're saying this?"

"I'll give you a childhood photo of Nicolai and you'll find him."

"Why would I do it for you?"

"It's not just for my cause. Remember who carried the gasoline in the mansion. I'm sure he remembers too. He killed Nathan so I'm pretty worried about you. Or about her."

"You bitch." Disgust was not just on his face now. It could be heard out of his voice, too.

* * *

Claire was almost driven out of her own mind. She was standing there, at the window of the room where the class was having Biology. It seemed a long time ago when they were talking about robots and aliens at the back of the classroom. And something was wrong. She saw him, sitting at the same desk, as usual but he didn't saw her. He looked like he was thinking, caring about nothing connected to the lesson.

The bells rang and they were all packing their bags. She started running again, inside the building.

"West! West!" shouted she as she saw him.

"Claire! What are you doing?" said he with surprise in his voice.

"Listen here" said Claire while lowering her voice "I'll leave town in an hour."

"What? You can't... What...Why are you doing this? Why do you want to keep your mouth shut?"

"They made a deal."

"They? They who?"

"The Company" whispered she "resurrected my father."

"What the?"

"It's a long story. And they sent him back to keep themselves safe. And now they want me safe so we're moving."

"Where? And why are you telling this?"

"I don't know. I don't know." Tears appeared in her eyes while she was speaking. "And I'm telling this because I love you. You understand me. All of my happiness, all of my pain. I don't want to lose you."

"You won't lose me just tell where you're going."

"I would. But it's not just my thing."

"Then what else? It looks like it's just you."

She looked directly in his eyes."You wanted to keep your secret. Do it. There's someone after us."

"After us?"

"After everyone like us. He kills them. He's tall and has dark hair and goes by the name Sylar. If you hear that name, run! If you don't, stay put or run. Make sure he'll never find you. Please. Do this for me." Her voice sounded like begging.

"OK. But tell me where you are."

"I love you." whispered she.

"I love you, too." answered West as he hugged her.

They said goodbye, both with tears in their eyes. But there was someone who had clear sight on them. Nicholas didn't hear everything they were saying but he saw them clearly. And he felt like something has just exploded in his heart.

* * *

The second slaughter of the strangler. In two days. Matt felt like he was in a nightmare. He hoped he could wake up but there was no help. The murderer was real. But this time, the killer made a mistake. He left an eyewitness, a huge, dirty black guy who had to sleep in the streets of New York and nobody recognized he was there.

"Hey, cops, back off! I'm a muthafucka witness. I'm a volinteer so let me pee."

"We'll just ask a few questions" started Fuller. Matt got into his mind and suggested him to tell the truth about everything and tell it fast.

"So you say you saw someone last night." said Fuller.

"Yo, cop, did. Up there." He pointed almost to the top of the victim's mansion.

"You mean he was flying?" asked Matt.

"No, cop. Hee wuzn't. Cop, saw that muthafucka Spide-man movie? Na, this asshole was jus' like tha."

"Spiderman?" asked Matt again. "You're kidding."

"No, cop, I ain't. Jus' like Spide-man. Except he didn' wore da muthafucka red driss."

Matt was trying to read his mind. But he found just this. Looked like he was telling the truth.

"How much did you drink?" asked Fuller.

"Six, cop."

"Six what?"

"Beer, cop. Muthafucka beer."

"Let him go." ordered Fuller, with disappointment in his voice. "He's useless." claimed him when the guy was taken away from the scene.

"You might be right." said Matt quietly. Luckily, no one could read his mind because he was thinking about the exact opposite. Spiderman sounded ridiculous but Matt knew the witness could not lie. Not a chance for that.

* * *

Micah was just getting home from school. He was alone. More than that, he felt alone. He couldn't imagine anyone who could understand what was he going through. He didn't provoke anything he was just sitting at the back of the class, listening for nothing. When he was asked, he answered but he didn't do anything more. Anything extraordinary. He didn't want to be extraordinary. He just wanted the life of an average kid. With a family.

The bus stopped because the traffic light was red. He looked around, without any special purpose. But then he was that man. The man who was driving the van in front of the abandoned diner. He was sitting in a used hotrod but it was no doubt it was him. But he was taken away by the police. How could he be free?

The bus started and turned right immediately so Micah lost sight of him quickly.

* * *

"So what do you want me to do?" asked Mohinder from Dr. Wang. "I guess you're the star here."

"Yeah, but I don't know everything. I need you tell me all about your research."

"All about my research? Sit down, it'll be a long story."

"And please don't bother me with family issues." Her voice ignited a flame in him. It was so cold.

"I can't really do that. I guess you know about my sister."

"Let me make it clearer. Please concentrate on the turning points. The changes. The things that led you to this path."

"Well, that's not a family issue but, in fact just as interesting as that. Sylar. About half a year ago I managed to study him and his DNA gave me quite a few answers. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of that research."

"What were these answers?"

"I could precisely locate the genes responsible for all of these abilities. I think it all comes down to four genes and the mutations of them."

"Just four?"

"Seems few?"

"Awfully few, Dr. Suresh. There is a wider spectrum of these abilities we could imagine. It can't be just four genes."

"Who are you to doubt my family's theory? Are you sure your ability works properly? Since when are you studying this? Because this is a work of a lifetime."

"You're right. I can just guess. But if there are really just four genes doing this how could you explain the complexity and the variety of these abilities? There could be only one reason. The complexity of the molecules constructing the DNA. And for that, I see a very small chance. Tons of mutated molecules, fitting in the human DNA, I consider it nonsense."

Mohinder could hardly believe her but she seemed quite sure, the theory made sense, and she looked like she has already mastered this task.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

"Dr. Suresh" said Bob. "I need a favor from you. I'll send you photos of three persons. I would like to ask Molly Walker if he could find them." And how did this make sense, thought he.

"OK. Send the pictures."

* * *

Hiro was just standing there, staring on the front door of Yamagato. And he was yet to make a decision. Was he strong or cold enough to leave his sister and his friend? Was this their destiny? His real trial was coming. He could explore the future, he could see it. But the question standing in front of him was: does he want to see it? He saw terrible things and none of this was as surprising as this. None of this was so shocking. So shocking that he didn't want to see more of it.

He thought about the day of the explosion and disappeared.

It was an average morning. There was nothing extraordinary. Then it just happened. Several windows broke as the explosion erupted. Hiro stopped time and teleported up. Time was still frozen so he could bring everybody a few floors down, to various locations that they could get out of the building safely. He saw their faces as the alarm went off, everyone terrified. He knew he could never forget them. And his heart was full of happiness and pleasure. He knew Kaito would be proud of him.

He stayed for a few moments after he had rescued the last woman, to see what good he had done. Then he disappeared and appeared in his cubicle again. Ando was staring at him.

"_What did you do, Hiro?" _asked he.

"_I did good. I saved many lives."_

He saw the pleasure and the pride in his friend's eyes. But he also saw something different. He thought it was distress.

"_Don't be afraid of my ability. There are some things I can't change._

The phone rang in Hiro's cubicle.

"Hiro Nakamura." he introduced himself.

"Good afternoon, Hiro." It was a man's voice. "I'm Bob. I need your help."

"My help? For what?" He was afraid. Although he saved a lot of people he didn't want his ability to be widely known.

"To save a man's life. And maybe the world too."

* * *

Bob has just finished the conversation with Hiro when Dr. Suresh called him.

Mohinder was standing in the lab with Dr. Wang who was doing something on her computer as he called his boss.

"She's done." he said while looking at the pictures. "Elle's moving. Probably by plane. She can land anywhere from Kansas to California."

"The others?" asked Bob.

Mohinder looked at a photo of a man with a quite big nose, fair, well-cut hair and a few wrinkles on his face.

"He's in New York. In Brooklyn at the moment Molly looked for him. And the kid." There was a kid in the photo who shouldn't have been more than five years old. "Molly can't find him. I guess he's dead."

"Are you sure?" asked Bob. He needed to be sure about this information.

"The only people who she can't find are the dead ones."

"Thank you, Mohinder." he said. Then, Nicolai was dead. But how could he speak with Angela? "Please, I need updated information on them."

"She's not a machine, Bob." raised his voice Mohinder.

"That's why I don't give you orders. That's why I'm begging to you." His voice was an old man's voice.

* * *

Monica didn't sleep well. She didn't knew what time was it when she heard some scratching sounds. She walked down the stairs, keeping herself quiet. Then they just appeared. Two hooded men jumped out of the kitchen and she was simply not quick enough. One of them pulled her down on the floor. Then the other one raised his fist and punched her face, making her unconscious.

* * *

The weather was in quite a weird mood that evening. Clouds have just appeared out of nowhere and immediately raindrops were starting to fall to the ground. About ten minutes later than its beginning the clouds and the wind and the thunder formed a storm.

Peter, who had nowhere to go, tried to warm himself up with his nuclear ability but it was far from perfect. He could regenerate but he was wet and tired, he wanted a bed. And, suddenly a seemingly idiotic idea came to his mind. He stepped to the first public phone and sought the name Tuzzio. Luckily it was a rare name and her house was not far away, if the others on the streets said it right.

"Hi" said Olivia surprised but with a smile on her face. "Oh, your fully wet."

"Well, I've just missed the connection."

"And what?" asked she. "Why have you come here?"

"Please. Can I stay? Just for one night?"

She looked like she was thinking about it.

"Please." said Peter.

"Well, if a sofa is good enough for you. And don't think I can't defend myself. And, in fact, what could you steal? I hate television, I don't keep any jewelry or money here."

"Anything is good enough what's warmer than the streets this night. And don't worry about that. Thank you."

He fell asleep immediately after he laid down on the sofa. He was a bit surprised that nothing happened that night. But he didn't sleep well. He woke up in the middle of the night. He felt like he was looking for something. He laid eyes on a notepad and a pen near the sofa. And suddenly he saw a picture. After that, he remembered nothing.

"Nathan! Nathan!" Peter heard a woman's voice from far away. He opened his eyes very slow.

"Nathan. Are you OK?" asked Olivia. "You yelled your own name."

"I did?" asked Peter. He wasn't on top.

"Well, yeah. And you did something at night. I heard you moving."

"I don't remember."

She looked around and found the notepad. She saw that he drew something on it.

"Well, I guess you're a talented drawer." She gave to pad to Peter.

There were three figures on it. The first person had only her back to see but looking at the hair and the coat Peter thought it might be himself. The second one was Olivia, and the third person was someone very familiar. Too familiar to be here. The two latter were having a conversation.

"You know this woman?" pointed Peter on the third person.

"Angela? Of course, I do. She's my colleague."


	4. Chapter 4: The clock is ticking

**Chapter 4: The clock is ticking**

"Well, I guess you're a talented drawer." She gave to pad to Peter.

There were three figures on it. The first person had only her back to see but looking at the hair and the coat Peter thought it might be himself. The second one was Olivia, and the third person was someone very familiar. Too familiar to be here. The two latter were having a conversation.

"You know this woman?" pointed Peter on the third person.

"Angela? Of course, I do. She's my colleague."

Peter was stunned again. How many surprises await him? He didn't knew many about his parents' life before he was born. When sometimes these themes turned up, air temperature seemed to drop a lot – except how his parents had met. But, generally the present and the future was always more important. So he didn't know his mother had worked in Washington. He only knew they had met in New York but nothing more.

"Where ... where do you work exactly?" he asked. Now, he wanted to know more.

"Ministry of Foreign Affairs." she answered. But, suddenly, he heard her thoughts again. "My God, I should hide the gun. If he realizes I'm CIA, we're near dead."

Well, at least, he knew the answer he had wanted a moment before. If Olivia didn't lie, (and why would she) his mother was a federal agent. It didn't seem an easy fact to accept.

"Eh..." stammered she. "I'll go up and take a shower. I must get to work. Would you like to have one, too?"

"No" answered Peter silently. "Thanks, I'm fine. I think when you get back I'll be gone."

"Are you sure?" asked she and he nodded.

She started to get out of the room but she turned back for a moment.

"Why are you saying you're fine when you're probably not?"

Peter looked at her but didn't say a word. Words seemed too heavy for him now. Just as he heard the voices of her steps disappear, he turned invisible.

He had to repeat a former question. Why was he here? Was this his destiny? He realized things he never wanted to and he didn't know where was the end of these. Should he learn the past? He didn't knew this answer but he thought he could get some when he stays here.

He phased through the wall and walked out to the street, waiting for her. If he follows her, he'll get to his mother. And there'll be no more secrets.

* * *

Monica woke up suddenly as someone slapped her face.

"Yo sur this wuz da girl, Hype?" asked someone in a deep voice, darkened by smoke.

"Yo, homie." answered Hype Wilson. Some people started to laugh. "This bicch iz nutz, homies."

"Yo tink?" asked the man with deep voice again. "I tink she ain't. Go on, homie."

Someone helped Monica to get to her feet. She looked around and she was horrified form what she's seen. She was in a court (maybe a basketball court but it was guarded with many fences and there were no functioning lights around it) surrounded by more than ten gang members as she could count it in the dark. They were in a circle and she was in the middle of it. They were guarding her.

Hype Wilson wearing nothing but shoes and training pants, stepped out of the circle, heading to Monica.

"Gotta tape, homies?" he asked.

"Yo, homie." someone answered from the crowd.

He started running, trying to hit Monica but her body's natural reaction was just too quick for him as she pulled his arm and he lost his balance and landed on the ground. Many gang members started to laugh but the most of them has gone silent in a moment. But, they didn't make a single move.

So, they wanted a fight, realized Monica. Then they'll get it, she thought. She tried to remember all of his knowledge about martial arts as Hype attacked her again. She repulsed it again. Then, she kicked him in the face. That really hurt him because something cracked. Now, he realized, what pain was. He tried to kill Monica and wanted a second chance. But now, she was free and she could make him pay. As she kicked him again he cried for help.

Two gang members were trying to hit Monica, but with her skills, she was simply untouchable for them. There were many of them but she managed to knock them out, one by one.

Then, she saw one more. The one with the camera. As the last one of his mates fell, he started running. Monica was getting after him, she chased him for about a minute when he, looking backwards, didn't saw the trash can in his way and fell on the street so she could reach him.

"Why?" asked she. She was burning in pain and fury and she wanted answers.

"Why wha?" asked he.

"Why was all this stuff with me?"

"The dude. The dammed white guy who paid fo' Hype. He wunted a tape of this."

"He wanted a tape of me fighting? Why? And how did he stay in contact with you?"

"Dunno. Dunno why. But he wunted whatta ... fair fight. Jus' you and him."

"How could you reach him?" asked she again. She knew now that the gang members were just the blade and she wanted the hand moving the knife. She wanted to know who was spying on her.

"The address. It's on the cam. He said when we gotcha and the tape send it to that."

She looked for the camera. The gang member dropped it as he fell and it was just a few meters away from them. There was a paper on it, with an address in Las Vegas.

"I think I'll borrow this." she said but he was just squealing. "And don't mess with me like this again." Then she turned away. She wanted to go home. The sun was just rising and she was tired and it was late to chase mysteries.

* * *

Matt stayed in his office for a while. He had the files of the strangler's two victims and he thought she realized something. Carson was fined when he hit a young girl, Sabine Jefferson. It was strange for him for the first time, too, so he asked for her reports from the hospital. She's been in coma for more than three years. The second victim, Joseph Fielding, M.D. was in the Board of Directors of the hospital she was lying in. His intuitions were not the best in the past but he knew this could not be a coincidence. And now he had to make a hard but decisive call.

"Sabine Dailly here." answered a woman on the other end.

"Good evening, Miss Dailly and sorry for disturbing you this late. I'm officer Matt Parkman from NYPD and I would like to ask some questions."

"About what?" she asked angrily.

"About your daughter. And the strangler."

She took a deep breath.

"You're calling me as your best suspect?"

"No, I don't. But this case can raise suspicion and hype and we don't want that, including you." He knew he could have better results if he would go there personally but he wanted to move fast and needed the woman as conscious as she could be.

"What do you know about Nolan?" she asked.

"About your former husband?"

"We divorced after Sabine was hit. He simply could not take it. Yes, he begged for Fielding, but he refused to help us because we weren't rich enough. Then, he went down in the shadows. I didn't know what he was seeking, help or revenge. He worked at night and I asked him what he was doing." Her voice started to hear like crying. "We had several, no, a lot of quarrels. Then, I couldn't take it any more, either."

"You think he might be involved in some crime?"

"Yes." she whispered back.

"Can you imagine he might be the killer?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Miss Dailly. I'll talk to you later, too."

He had to check the reality of Sabine Dailly's speech when he's face to face with her, but first of all, he had to protect anyone involved in this case – including Sabine Dailly, because, after the divorce, his daughter was judged to her. And if Nolan Jefferson was the spider-man and he was out there looking for his prey, she could have been on his list, too.

* * *

"So what on earth did she want to do in just an hour?" asked Clinton DeFargau. "Tell me, Nick!"

"Nothing serious." he said calmly. But his voice was not near cold. It was full of disappointment. "She just wanted to say goodbye to one of her friends."

"One of her friends, huh?" he asked. "Wasn't that friend a tall boy with dark hair?"

"Well" Nicholas stopped to think but he told the truth. He had no reason to lie. "Yes. Why?"

Clinton didn't answer him. Instead he made a fast call on his cell phone.

"DeFargau here. There's a flaw in the plan. Get them to Hartsdale first. They need to meet the Haitian." Nicholas froze as he heard that name. "Immediate erase of West Rosen. Anything about him." Then he put the phone away.

"Why on earth?" asked Nicholas.

"Anything that connects them to this place means danger. Mortal danger. This place could be a slaughterhouse at any moment and you know that. We can't have them involved."

But if they can't have Claire and her family involved, why can the Company let Clinton and him involved, asked Nick from himself.

* * *

Noah Bennet woke up in a cell that was annoyingly familiar to him. He was trapped again. He was out in his reckoning. He thought persuading Elle with human values can make them free. Free to take good care of his family.

"Good morning, Noah." said Bob. He was also standing in the cell confidently. Noah looked at him but didn't say a word.

"I'm afraid you're grounded."

"Shut up with this silly shit." he burst out. "You know why I turned back. And you just lock me up here?"

"Relax." said Bob calmly. "Claire, Lyle and Sandra will all be safe. They're heading here in this very moment."

"Here? Why? You want to trap them like you trapped me?" Noah wanted to run and hit him but he realized that his legs were in chains.

"No. Absolutely no. They will get a new identity and we're going to take the best care of them."

"And what about me?" asked Noah.

"Well, you won't be seeing them now..."

"Sonofabitch!" he yelled and he tried to get free. He failed again.

"But you can return to your family as soon as we get you a new partner." He turned back.

"And how much will it take?"

"Depends on your partner." he answered as he went out of the cell and locked the door leaving Noah alone.

He just walked a few meters and opened the door of another cell. Maya Herrera's one.

"Good evening, Maya." he greeted her.

"Who are you?" she asked. Her voice was full of fear and frustration.

"I'm Bob.

"What do you want from me?"

"Nothing. At least, not now."

"Then why keep me here? Let me go."

"I'm afraid I can't. You won't be safe out there."

"Then what is this? These trainings. They are killing me. And I can kill, too, I know. But I don't want to. _I'm lost."_

"We just want to help you. To use your gift."

"_It's not a gift._" she yelled.

"You need to possess it as safely as you can. You can control it now. If you can gain more control of it, like setting its range, it could do amazing things."

"_Killing. Assassinating. _That's not wonderful._"_

"There are some things that can only be stopped by death." He stepped closer to her as he saw Activating Evolution on her bedside table.

"Pure gold, isn't it? Every word of it." Then he started to turn it into gold. She was absolutely amazed.

"We just want to help you." he began. "And, at a time, we might need your help. To do something amazing." He couldn't recognize any effect behind her night-dark eyes.

Someone knocked on the door. Bob left the room, constantly watching her. As he locked the cell, one of his men turned to him.

"Mr. Bishop, Hiro Nakamura has arrived."

"Give the instructions to everyone. The clock is ticking and it's ticking fast."

* * *

Mohinder was already at the lab when Wang opened the door. She looked at her watch surprised. It wasn't even eight o'clock in the morning but he has already seemed very busy.

"Still the jet lag?"

"Well" began he, without looking from a microscope "your guesses are not the best now. I simply can't sleep. Just some nightmares." He didn't want to say more. The last time he saw dreams like this, they had meaning but nothing now. He just saw a shape like a human, formed by flames, so close to him that he could feel the heat erupting from it, even during dreaming.

"What are you looking at?" she asked.

"Trying to get back on track with my father's research. I took samples of Molly's blood to study her DNA. And, speaking about that, I'll need samples from you, too. You're only evolved ones around me so you two are my only chance."

"Do you believe in genesis, doctor? Actually, are you Christian?"

"How does this come to our research?"

"Well, I've been just thinking about the existence of a higher sense."

"As a scientist, having evolution all around me, I cannot really accept the story of Genesis. Or even God's existence."

"You might be right but it's an interesting idea. We are the only creatures living on this planet to deal even with the idea of God. We could be some kind of a part of him. And, more than that he can have parts in us."

"Is this a guess? Cause it sounds quite radical. And, in fact, are you a theologian, too?"

"I'm not, but what if these mutations are caused by some intelligence?"

"What are you talking about? This doesn't sound wild, this sounds mad!" Finally, he looked at her.

"I'm just thinking about a virus or something. We know the Company has experimented with a virus."

"With less than partial success, I think."

"What if this is another virus?"

"In the human DNA?"

"If it is, it could alter the structure of the whole human body, right?"

"If we accept this theory, maybe."

"And it could mutate variously, and more important, it could hide so we could not discover it."

"Then what about inheritance? We know several evolved humans having relatives with abilities. I think this quite busts your theory."

"When we're staying at the idea of a virus. What if it's something completely new?"

"You're talking contradictory to yourself. First you tell me to think something simple then you come forward with this amazingly ridiculous idea."

She sighed.

"You might be right, doctor. My guesses can't be right every time."

* * *

Peter didn't have to wait for a long time. After a few minutes, Olivia came out of his house, walked to a bus stop and took a bus heading to downtown.

He followed her, invisibly, looking for answers in her mind. But he didn't find many. Her thoughts were mostly around him questions like who was he, where he was heading, why did she let him sleep in her house, why did he trust him and, most of all, will she ever see him again. She just started to think about her work when she opened the door of her working place. She stepped in to an elevator, heading to the fourth floor. And her thoughts turned to somewhere else. She knew she could get a new assignment at any moment. There were several signs of a possible boiling point in the near future.

She stepped into her office, followed by Peter and saw that Angela was waiting for her.

"Hi, Olivia."

"Hi." she answered. "What's the matter?"

"It's here. The commies have requested a meeting."

"They have?" she asked. She was very surprised.

"Interesting story. Our secretary general says he had heard this message in his head last night. This morning, he got the same message on the Hot Line. Ridiculous, isn't it?"

"Well, seems it's the time for ridiculous things." Peter was reading her mind and he realized she was about to mention him. For a second, he froze in panic. Not here. Then, he started suggesting her to forget everything about him.

She looked like a statue as she wanted to say something in a second and in the next she didn't know what it was.

"Are you all right?" asked Angela.

"So, what do we have to do?" asked Olivia, now with clear eyes.

"What comes naturally. Meet them. Prepare for a trip. I hope you're not afraid of flying. We're departing tonight."

"You'll leave Arthur?" she asked.

"He'll understand it."

Olivia gulped then asked her. "Where to?"

"Austria." answered Angela, then she left. With Peter right after her.

* * *

The department reacted very quickly after Matt had alerted them. He has found several possible victims, so it took more than ten officers to cover and guard all of them, including himself. So, he was on night watch on a sofa of a flat on the fifth floor. Sometimes, he looked out of the window, too, to be sure there is no spider-man. He did this many times, and after a few times, he began to like it. He was never afraid of heights (not like Fuller) and from the window of the flat he could see a boulevard of New York, full of neon lights and life, even at night.

He looked at his watch. It was about 2 o'clock. He was pretty tired but he had to remain patient. Many lives could depend on him.

Then, suddenly a hard string slapped his arm from above, causing him to drop the gun down to the streets. He couldn't even look up and he was kicked in the stomach.

"Parkman!" yelled Fuller and he pulled his gun. "Put your hands down!" The next moment, he was also hit on the hand with the strange, white string and dropped the gun, too.

Matt tried to wake up but he felt himself too weak to do it. He could barely keep his eyes open, and they were covered by several tears.

"Nolan!" he said, not just in his mind.

The figure who attacked him, turned back.

"You don't want to hurt anyone." suggested Matt and then he said it out, too.

Nolan was kneeling down. OK, thought Matt. Just keep him calm. But he couldn't do it. In the next moment, Nolan jumped up, over him, down to the street.

"No!" cried Matt. He tried to get up as fast as he could but at that time he could see nothing. Traffic and people were moving like nothing had happened.

Now he knew. The nightmare, the spider-man was real.

* * *

Micah was heading to school bus stop when he saw Monica, in her pyjamas, with some blood and a lot of sweat on it. They were terrified when they saw that she was not in her bed. They've called the police, too.

He ran directly to her and he hugged her.

"Where were you?" he asked, with a few tears in his eyes.

"I was kidnapped by the gang who stole your backpack."

"What? Why?" Of course, he didn't understand it, either.

"I don't know but if you help me, I'll have the answer for that."

"How?" asked he excitedly.

She gave him the paper she had taken from camera.

"You lived in Las Vegas. Do you know where this place is?"

Micah looked at the paper. The address was Fleet Street 253.

"Monica" he began "there is no Fleet Street in Vegas."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah. "he answered with disappointment.

* * *

Hiro Nakamura was asked to teleport to a cemetery with a female agent. Then, she clicked on a flashlight and started to sneak around, looking for a grave between the many of them and the few trees surrounding the place.

"How will this save the world?" he asked. He was a bit afraid. Afraid of the dark, afraid of the situation he didn't know well enough.

But he got no answer, instead she whispered. "Here it is." She pointed on a grave with her light.

He stepped to the marble stone and read the letters carved into it.

**Nathan Petrelli (1974-2007)**

**Son, husband and father**

"Nathan Petrelli? Flying man?" he said weakly. "How could he die?" he whispered.

"He was shot." she answered coldly. "But with your help we can bring him back."

"Bring him back? How?" he was shocked by both the fact and her voice.

"I need you to teleport out his corpse then teleport us back to the facility." she instructed him.

"Why? He's dead now." he remembered his father. "Gone. Forever."

"You can't say that." she said. "He was a brave man. Someone who could save the world. We do need someone like him."

"You think he is more important to me than my father?" he argued. "If I didn't save Kaito Nakamura I will not save Nathan Petrelli, either."

"Well, we can make a deal about that. We bring back Nathan Petrelli and then we'll bring back your father, too."

Hiro was afraid. Can he accept a proposal like that? Can his personal love overwrite the bushido code?

"Will you help us, Hiro?" she asked. "All of us. Including your father."

He was confused. And then he said "Yes."

Hiro did everything he was told to. He teleported the slowly rotting corpse out and back to the Company's facility.

"Good." she said after they had laid down Nathan's body on the ground. Hiro has never a corpse before so his stomach was jumping up and down constantly.

The door of the room opened and two people entered it. Both looked like doctors dressed for a surgery. The first one was a small, old, bearded white man, carrying a metal bag and the second was tall, black and bald. The older doctor knelled down to examine the body and after that he opened the bag. There were several medicinal needles in it, filled with some red fluid, probably blood. The second man stepped to Hiro.

"You don't help?" asked Hiro from him.

"Yes, I will." answered the Haitian calmly and put his fingers on Hiro's forehead.

"Like it was ordered." said the agent. "Everything from the call of the boss."

* * *

Sylar was very, very confident. He easily got the address of the Butler family and could also get to their home easily. It was before noon and there was no car in front of the house so he thought nobody would be at home. Perfect. His appearance will be a perfect surprise for the family. He melted the glass on one of the windows and he jumped in. He was listening in every moment, he was like a carnivore looking for its prey. And then, he heard it. He heard heartbeats, strong and fast but probably not very close to him. He stepped closer to the stairs and the heartbeats became stronger and stronger. He stopped in front of the stairs. He heard someone dialing a phone number, but definitely not the police. He heard Claire saying something. She was probably talking to someone on the phone. So, she didn't have school, didn't she, he thought. Well, that might be a quite bad decision.

Suddenly, he heard something disturbing him. Some kind of a disharmony. After a few seconds, he had realized, he was hearing another heart, just as fast as Claire's. Getting closer and closer to him. Someone opened the door. The floor cracked a little bit as someone stepped on it. Sylar turned back in a split second and saw a small man with a few scars on his face, pointing a gun at him.

Sylar moved his hand and pressed him to the wall of the sitting room, then broke the gun apart.

"Who are you?" he grinned. "What are you doing here?"

"Screw up, madman." whispered DeFargau and spat him in the face.

Claire screamed upstairs and she started running down. Into the arms of fate.

"Now look what you've done." whispered Sylar. And, with a single move of his thumb, he cracked DeFargau's neck.

Nicholas just saw the slaughter of his partner, but with another scream on Claire's voice he managed to run back upstairs before Sylar could see him.

"Come down, Claire." he yelled. "For you, I'll make it quick and painless." He was sure that she can't escape now.

Suddenly, he heard glass breaking and someone falling down from upstairs. You had thought this would save you, he was thinking.

"What are you going to do now?" he heard a shocking voice. His own. "Huh? What are you going to do? You can't kill someone who's invincible."

"Yes, I can." he shouted. "She's not invincible. I'm the one worthy for that. I'm an overman!"

"You are nuts. You're a paranoid murderer."

"Who are you?" he shouted again. How could this be? How could he be stopped by himself? Now, standing just inches away from his purpose. What is happening to him? He was driven out of his mind.

"I am you." he heard a calm whisper.

Before he fell on the ground unconsciously he thought he could hear a watch ticking.


	5. Chapter 5: Karma pursuit

**Chapter 5: Karma pursuit**

Karma, Fate, God. No matter what you do you can't hide from it. But this doesn't mean that us, humans don't try to avoid it. Everyone has someone to face or avoid. Living with evil, long forgotten memories, dealing with present lies or facing the dangerous future. It all requires great strength, bravery, wisdom. And the help of this unknown might. The question is, that if you try to run away, what will find you? Because something will.

* * *

Claude's life became a lot easier after he left Peter Petrelli alone. And, in fact, it seems, his work had paid off. It has been almost six months since they've gone on separate ways, New York didn't seem to blow up and he had a safe life again. He knew it would be too dangerous to him if he went back to the Deveaux building so he moved to another site. And he really couldn't give up with the pigeons. He might have lost the ones from the rooftop but with a little care and attention others have appeared at 59 Dumont Avenue.

He was feeding them every day, almost at the same moment. This was all left for him. After disappointing and disenchanting out of humanity, only the pigeons were left. He thought, they knew even more what attention and caring means. Some days, he was there for even more than an hour, just standing and looking at them. Like this day.

And suddenly, something pierced his neck with just a small amount of pain. He pulled it out as fast as he could but he felt it slow. He looked at it and he had seen it just before he collapsed. It was one of the needles used by the Company.

* * *

He didn't know how could he fail. He has never experienced something like this. Stopped by his own soul, it sounded ridiculous. Instead, he wanted even more powers. He had to become stronger. To become an overman. But he collapsed. He failed and he let Claire walk away again, alive and without any harm. He thought about what could have happened. She must be miles away from him, on the run again, hiding again. He stepped up and looked at the corpse of the man he murdered. Sylar knew he was nothing. Just an ordinary man, brandishing a gun, one who thought he might be able to kill the most powerful, the most unique evolved one. He failed too. That's the rule of evolution.

He walked out, thinking and thinking. Something came to his mind. If Claire and her ability was real, the flying man might also be. It had an awfully small chance to be simply considered as a coincidence. And if it wasn't the flying man might be here. Maybe Claire didn't have enough time to warn him. He thought about the article. What was the girl's name? Debbie Marshall. She may know things, answers to questions she would never be able to really believe.

* * *

After a very long night, just forcing the avoidance of a terrible murder, Matt Parkman had even another task to do. He must spoke with Sabine Dailly personally. He arrived just in time, met her before she was leaving.

"Where are you going, Miss Dailly?" he asked. He showed his license.

"What do you think? To work, what else. Have to live. And, if you haven't noticed, I haven't got any heavy bags, so I'm not going to run away."

"As I told you, Miss Dailly, you are not a suspect. We already have one."

She looked at him and silently said "Nolan."

Matt nodded.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Me and my partner met him at a would-be victim's flat. But he managed to get away. So, I need your help."

"About what?"

"First, I want to know if there was a place were he can be easily found."

"Well" she started thinking "when he began doing this he said he was at Mercury's. But that was more than a year ago. And in fact, I wouldn't encourage you to go there. It's a night club and a pub with lots of nasty and evil people. Criminals. Villains."

"I could take care of myself." He was doing that in this moment, too. He was reading her mind and he knew she was telling the truth.

"And one more, Miss Dailly. In the last few months or when you saw him last, did you experienced or did he mention something not normal? Something extraordinary?"

She gave a small but bitter laugh. "I those times, he spent more time out than home. He worked at night, came home and met me when I was going to work, just like you did and when I got back he was gone again. I think he just fell into bed, slept for a while and then simply went away without a word. I always had to clean up his room. It was full of rubbish."

"What rubbish?"

"You know, comics torn apart. That was his hobby a long time ago. And lots of dust and lots of spider webs."

And that was the keyword to Matt. The realization of his ability began and she knew nothing about it.

"Well, madame, if he didn't say a word to you, I'm sorry to say that but you've made the right decision." He took a deep breath. "Just like I did."

For a moment she grabbed his hand softly but then she left to live her life. To do her job. Just like Matt had to.

* * *

Mohinder picked up his cell phone with a bit of anger. This research needed a lot of attention from him and he didn't want to be disturbed long. But someone called him ten times this morning, so it should have been quite important.

"Mohinder?" asked someone on the other end.

"Nirand?" Mohinder recognized the voice. "What's the matter? I've been busy. And I still am."

"Leave it." his voice turned bitter. "Mohinder, your mother... she's dead."

Naturally, he couldn't stay standing.

"What? How?"

"Peacefully. She went to sleep and never woke up. Her heart stopped."

Mohinder couldn't take it any more.

"I'm going back to Madras immediately." he said as tears started appearing in his eyes.

* * *

Peter was walking slowly, still invisible, following his mother to her office. Just when she sat down and started thinking, he began to read her mind. He wanted to hear her thoughts, now and without any lies. One of Olivia's sentences was in her head.

"It seems it's the time for ridiculous things. What did she mean with that? If Olivia realizes our secrets, God doesn't even know what would happen."

Suddenly, the sound of her thoughts turned almost completely silent. Peter tried harder. He wanted to know what she was thinking about. He could hear it again, but it sounded like a disturbed or weak radio signal.

"This cannot be a coincidence... Arthur will understand... we have to... others... help of Bob... Daniel"

Her face suddenly fell down as she lost her consciousness and this shocked Peter. He leaned down to her, noticed her breath and he turned her face so he could look in it. Blood was leaking from her nose and her eyes were also very bloody like she didn't sleep a moment.

"What are you doing to us?" she said with a sound like she was dieing. As Peter looked in her eyes he couldn't really decide if she was asking this from him or from someone non-existing.

* * *

Monica was thinking about the whole white guy from Vegas thing all day long. She had to believe Micah, that there really wasn't a street with this name but she couldn't deal with the idea, just let someone dangerous, someone whose purposes aren't really making sense and can also make risky moves to reach these mad goals, to go.

In the afternoon, she told all this to Micah.

"I think I'll go to the police and ask them about this." she said. She tried to be optimistic.

"He might have also given a false identity." he answered.

"This is the police. They can't be fooled like the gang members down the street."

"And will they tell you anything about him?" Skepticism was all over in his voice.

"I'm just trying to get my life." she said with a huge sigh. "I don't want to be a laboratory rat or something like that. I just want to gain control of it."

"The only way for that is losing it." he said sadly.

"How can you say that?" she asked.

"I've lost my life already, Monica! And if you don't want to do that, you'll forget all this stuff."

"And let myself to be beaten up well?"

Now, he sighed.

"The only thing that I know, that it's not like on TV. Using these have rarely caused anything good." As he remembered, tears appeared in his eyes. "Three months ago I wished we were Fantastic Three. And now I'm the only one left of it."

* * *

Nicholas was so terrified that he simply wasn't able to enter the Bennet house. He didn't hear Sylar's screams any more but he didn't know why silence had fallen. Was it fleeing or just another move of the silent predator? So he felt he had nothing to do here and he definitely didn't want to stay there, just a few meters away from a crime scene. From the scene of a man's murder. Someone's who he knew and sometimes he liked. He ran away as fast as he could, like hellfire would be on his heels. His hands, his whole body was shaking so it wasn't a wonder that he fell several times. He didn't know how many miles he had run before he had the courage to just slow down. He felt like death was breathing inches away from his ears. But his job hadn't been finished yet. He knew Sylar could pass on at any moment and if the Company realizes the size of the danger they might send someone tougher. And maybe get him out of harm's way.

So he stepped to a pay phone and called an emergency number, at Primatech Paper in Texas. A woman picked up the phone, who introduced herself as Ann Willis.

"Agent Nicholas Senna here. Emergency."

"Senna?" she interrupted. "Where's agent DeFargau. Shouldn't he keep contact with the Company?"

"Our assignment didn't work out as we thought." said he with fear in his voice. "DeFargau's dead."

"Stay where you are. For just two minutes." she said.

"Hey, wait..." he began there was no one on the other end.

He didn't know how he managed to hold out there, with all of his body shaking, constantly looking for danger and wishing he could disappear. But the phone rang like she said.

"Stay where you are." she ordered. "In Costa Verde. You have a new, single assignment. Looking for a blond girl, about 5 feet eight. Her name is Elle Bishop. And be careful with her, she has an electric ability." And silence again.

Nicholas was so shocked about the orders that he couldn't interrupt Ann. But when he could really deal with his work, something in his mind and his heart said "No". Not without DeFargau. Or someone like him. No, he won't stay here for even a moment. This place is really becoming a slaughterhouse.

* * *

All three members of the Bennet family felt themselves freed up when the door of the small van finally opened. Sandra and Lyle slept during most of the time of the journey but Claire couldn't, except for a few minutes, she thought. Her theory was that her body simply neutralized the chemicals in the injection. But this just made her journey even worse. There was almost no light in the van and after some time she started to feel claustrophobic. So, for her, it was even more than just opening a door.

Not until he saw the man standing in front of them. A familiar man but someone she didn't want to remember.

"Who the hell are you? And where are we?" asked Lyle.

"Does it matter?" answered the Haitian and laid his fingers on his forehead. Claire started running towards him like a bullet shot out of a gun but someone behind her back grabbed her. She was yelling and trying to get free but there was no use. The Haitian slowly erased the memory of her brother and her mother. After that, he stepped in front of her.

"Why are you doing this to us?" she asked desperately.

"For your own good."

"Shouldn't we decide that?" But there was no answer to that. Everything just turned black around her.

* * *

Elle was totally shocked from what she saw. She found the Bennet house quite easily, she just needed a few questions. But the scene was completely different from what she had expected. Almost no drop of blood. It was not like Sylar was here. She only saw one corpse but the top of the head of it wasn't even touched. And she also found a company gun, simply ripped apart. She suspected no fingerprints on it so she left it on the floor. Looking around, she couldn't understand one thing. How could her father leave her in the background with this much danger in front of them? He knew this all along and he knew she was desperate to capture the serial killer. She wanted to hunt him down herself. But, thanks to her father, he managed to get away again. She felt pain and bitterness. She felt like she was trapped. Trapped, being wasted, not valued enough. But she wanted to show how valuable she is. She will show her strength to everybody. She had only one chance. She was given an assignment, and she will fulfill it. But not for the company. On her own. Without any help and she will be the one benefiting from it. She had to turn back. She wanted to go to Byron Bevington.

* * *

Niki was recovering surprisingly quickly. After three days, she could get up from her so-called bed. In fact, it was just a plank covered with some slightly damaged textile. But now, she could also meet the people who saved her and this filled her with happiness. Both Samuel and Abraham were kids, Abraham just a few years older than her son. And he had such a wonderful power. He was the one who healed her. First, when she realized that, she thought about Linderman. But Abraham was just different. He was sweet and innocent just like Micah. Maybe that was the reason she didn't want to see him much. And, additionally, Samuel didn't let too much of that. He was a few years older than his brother, but Niki thought, he wasn't even twenty. He had a strange ability. He called it mind impulsing. By touch and concentration he could implant thoughts, emotions to others' mind. Even smaller illusions, like he did to Niki. He said he didn't know what she feels when Abraham's healing him, and he wanted to prevent anything bad.

Although the cure was working, lots of Niki's skin was damaged, so for most of the day she had to lay in bed and the boys came to her. Samuel stepped to her head and Abraham grabbed her hand. She felt the soft, white fog again, but after one single moment it was broken. She felt that Abraham was leaving her hand. Someone was gasping heavily behind her.

She heard Samuel's voice.

"What's that? In your head? Something dark, torn apart."

She was shocked. The cure worked too well. They may have cured her out of the virus. So her ability might be able to return? Because if it does, they all are in terrible danger.

* * *

Nathan had a very, very strange feeling when he got up. He thought he was shot. He remembered that he had looked in Peter's face after he collapsed. Then, everything turned black. But if that happened, how could be in pyjamas, and how could he see light and how could he be locked in chains?

Someone opened a door and he turned his head that way. It was Bob with a pleased look on his face.

"Where am I?" asked Nathan with a bit of fury.

"At a safe place." he answered calmly.

"What happened?"

"You're lucky to be alive..."

"I'm not supposed to be. I was shot! What am I doing here? And what are you doing here?"

"That's a long story and I'm going to tell you when the time comes."

"What happened to Peter?" This question was just as important as his own life's was.

"Unfortunately, I have no information about him."

"Damn you!" he cried out. He tried to fly but the bed was too heavy. "If you hide my brother from me again, I'll kill you."

"I'm not hiding him. Your mother does."

"What?" This sentence confused him very much. "Bring him to me. She'll tell it to me." Another question is that he didn't want to tell the Company about that.

"We will. When you both are ready."

"When will be that?" asked Nathan.

"Depends." And Bob left the room quickly. She walked into his office. Hiro Nakamura was waiting for him.

"Good morning." greeted Bob him.

"Who are you?" asked Hiro.

"I'm Bob. We had talked on phone and it's a pleasure to meet you."

"We did?" he asked confusedly. "I don't remember. Why am I here?"

"We're going to Acacia Cemetery. And we're going to pay respects to a great man. Nathan Petrelli."

* * *

The Mercury's was a place just like Sabine Dailly described it. Several prostitutes, lots of dark places, smell of vodka and beer and a lot of people who looked like they had a long track record. Matt was a bit afraid that his ability wouldn't work on so many people, but he managed to get to the barman without an insulting move or word, although all of his apparel and movement excelled out of the crowd.

"Give me a beer." he whispered. He didn't want to be heard by too many customers. "And some information about Nolan Jefferson."

"Who the hell?" the barman asked but Matt was listening to his thoughts. "I must alert him with Caylynn. He could get out on the kitchen door before this cop gets a smell of him." he thought.

"Nolan Jefferson." answered Matt calmly. He knew what he was coming for. "It's a pity." he said as he received his beer. "I might have a job for him.

"He haven't been here for a long time." the barman said as Matt was going away.

He went out, to the streets, to the alley where guessed the back door was. After a few minutes, he saw a door opening and a man moving out. He jumped out with the gun in his hand and yelled. "Freeze! Hands up!"

There wasn't too much light, in fact, it wasn't enough. He didn't see Nolan's face and he only saw one of his hands. So Nolan snapped the scourge-like thing in his other hand. The string picked Matt"s flesh and caused so much pain that he couldn't think and dropped the gun, too. Nolan stepped closer to him. Now, Matt saw his face. He grew a beard and his face was thicker and paler than on the photo of him at the police. He pressed the string harder, pulled out another one from his pocket, reeled it around Matt's neck and threw the other end of it on the nearby street lamp. He pulled Matt there and bound it like a rope.

"That'll be the destiny of any cop coming after me." he hissed and pulled the string so Matt was lifted up from the ground. But he let the other one looser and Matt tried to concentrate on him. Suggesting Nolan to let him go. To let everyone go. Nolan got to his head.

"What are you doing to me?" he whispered. Matt tried harder and the pinch got a bit looser.

"Let me go." he suggested. "Let everyone go."

Nolan released the string, sat down and started crying. Matt slowly picked up his gun and looked for something to cover his bleeding hand. But he still didn't get to close to Nolan He didn't know why but he felt with him. So he decided to go Sabine's bed first, although he could only hope for the best.

* * *

Mohinder wasn't feeling any happiness when he arrived to Madras. Although this was his home, all of his childhood memories bound him here, most of it was gone. In fact, the memories were in his mind, but just to remind him to his loss. Every member of his family is dead now. And he hadn't been there for any of them. Couldn't help them through. Or maybe save them. Zero out of three. Definitely not the best rate. Although he knew that it was useless, he blamed himself a bit. Even touching and seeing his mother's corpse caused him more pain than he had thought. He touched the now cold hands and felt something dark and sad deep inside of him. That was his Karma, some would say. But he could not cry. He expected himself to do that but he couldn't. He just felt lonely, empty and tired. He went to sleep early, but naturally he didn't sleep well.

He had to realize he wasn't in his bed. He was lying on grass. Someone gave him a hand to help him get up.

"How?" Mohinder asked but he realized it was a dream. "Where are we?"

It was Sanjog. As usually, he didn't say a word, just pointed something behind his back. It was a huge monastery. Mohinder knew he had seen it before but he didn't know how and where. He started walking to the entrance of it. After a few meters, he saw that the door wasn't open so he slowed down. Then, a huge explosion appeared from nowhere and blasted out the whole door. It was the flaming shape again. He started running away from it but he fell and the figure was coming closer and closer to him. He could feel the monstrous heat of it again. It was just a few inches away from him when it stopped. He could now see his eyes. Dark eyes like the new moon might, but the fire was reflected in them.

It closed its eyes and exploded again. The same moment, Mohinder woke up sweating heavily.

* * *

Sylar thought it was pretty easy to get to Deborah Marshall. He just had to ask a few people and everyone told him much more than he wanted to know. So he was waiting for her after she had finished school for that day. Possibly her last.

"Good afternoon." he greeted her. "You're Debbie Marshall? The cheerleader of this wonderful team of the school?" he tried to be as flattering as he could.

"Who are you?" asked she like he was talking to some piece of dirt.

"I'm Bennet. Henry Bennet. I'm an author of Unbelievable." he lied. "I bet you've never heard about us."

"Unbelievable? It does sound like junk." she started turning away.

"Your story is really unbelievable. And I guess no one believes you really. Except me. I know you're telling the truth." he whispered.

Her eyes glinted as they met his ones.

"Let's walk." requested Sylar.

She told the whole story not one, but many times. And he was listening carefully and patiently. The story had the mark of her disappointment on it, but he thought knew it was generally true. Sometimes she started arguing about Claire but he didn't say anything just simply nodded. He didn't listen to her very much. He was just looking for one answer and was waiting for the moment to ask the question. And, during their walk he tried to lead their way to some place where they could hide.

As they reached a small park with huge trees and without any people, he finally thought that this was the right moment.

"Do you know someone who befriended Claire Butler those times?"

"Is that important?" she asked.

"Well, it might be. He could be also a trail to solve this mystery. And to prove that you're right." he added.

"Well, there was that Rosen kid. What was his name? West, I think. Silly name, isn't it?"

"It is." he whispered. He probably knew everything he needed. "Just like Sylar."

"What?" she asked but she noticed she couldn't move. With his mind, he pulled her behind a tree and with a move of his finger, he slit her throat. He didn't want to leave a trail. Not like Claire did. It caused the best feel of freedom and happiness that he could do this again, just like at the Bennet's house. He heard a loud scream. A girl with a blotter, by the same age as Debbie, was following them. But she wasn't fast enough to get away. Not away from him. He stopped her with his telekinetic ability and pulled her there too. Then, he cracked her neck. As her body collapsed the blotter fell down and several paper sheets fell out of it. He looked around with pleasure. Then, just for an eye blink, he looked on the sheets. And suddenly, he saw something on it, although there wasn't a line on it. He got down on his knees and dipped his hand in the blood that was leaking from Debbie's wound.

His eyes turned dead, and with this morbid material, he began to paint.

* * *

Noah was almost shocked when he noticed that he was not alone in his cell. He sat up slowly. He could hardly believe his eyes. Beside his bed, there stood another one, with another man on it. Many years ago, he knew this face. Although, there were a few more wrinkles on the face, he could easily recognize the straight, fair hair, the aquiline nose and the big ears. He haven't seen this face for a long long time. And this was not a surprise, in case of this man.

The man lying on that bed was Claude Rains.


	6. Chapter 6: Courage under fire

**Chapter 6: Courage under fire**

Noah was almost shocked when he noticed that he was not alone in his cell. The man lying on that bed was Claude Rains. And, as he was looking at his old partner, Claude began to wake up. Noah was so surprised he couldn't even move so he watched him getting conscious.

Claude seemed just as shocked as he was.

"Bennet?" he asked like he couldn't believe what he saw.

"Claude Rains." said him quietly.

He turned away for a moment then he burst out. "How did you find me?" He wanted to move but he realized that his legs were also chained just like in Noah's case. "Is this your damned move again?"

Noah lifted up his blanket and showed that he was also a prisoner. Suddenly something came to his mind.

"My new partner?" he whispered.

"What the hell are you saying?" asked Claude angrily.

"You're in the same cell with me..."

"And is that supposed to mean something?"

"The boss mentioned I'll get a new partner soon. Maybe it meant you."

"They're mad if they think I'm going to work for them again."

"Don't underestimate them." advised Noah but Claude didn't seem to be very interested.

"How did they managed to find me?" he whispered.

At that moment, Noah knew the answer. In fact he had a very strong guess.

"I think I know." he said.

Claude turned to him with excitement on his face.

"Do you?" he asked.

"There is someone who has the ability to find people, no matter where they are."

"Even if they can't be seen?" asked Claude.

"Naturally."

"Where is this man?" asked this with a greedy voice.

"I don't know. I don't know it yet." He didn't want to tell Claude that he was misled by him. He didn't know if he could be trusted. "But I can help you."

"With what? I'm the invisible man. I don't need any help."

"Yes, you do. Don't think they aren't ready for you. They know your abilities and despite that, they've brought you here. So you'd better expect IR cameras at every corner."

"I still don't see where can you help me."

"They might expect you to come but I don't think they would expect someone without abilities."

"And" he began "when you succeed, what do you want in return?" he asked, leaning towards Noah.

"Your help, of course. I'll cover you up and you help me cover up what I want."

He laid back and his face seemed calmer. He even smiled a bit.

"If you admit that they are ready, don't you think that this room is already on tape?" He laughed as his smile turned grim and desperate.

* * *

Sylar looked on the picture he had painted with a huge shock. Because it was made out of blood, it didn't have the best quality but he could see faces and objects out of it. In fact, one face that he had only seen once. The girl who had attacked him at Isaac's loft. And there was another figure in the picture, standing back to him. He could just see one arm of that figure. It was holding and firing a gun, pointing directly to the girl's chest. And he also saw a spot on her body and that she was falling backwards, losing her balance but holding out her hand to the other figure.

He looked at the painting not one, but several times. He was surprised he didn't find himself on it. But if he didn't, why on earth did he paint this? Where was he involved in this, why was this meaningful for him?

* * *

Mohinder was almost driven out of his mind. He had also seen Sanjog in his dreams once before this but that time his message was quite clear. In fact, this message didn't come into total vacuum, either. Mohinder was sure he had seen the stupa in his dreams before. He knew he had seen it, he knew it was in one of their books. And he wanted to know why did he see that temple. So he locked the door of his room, and slowly starting to throw every book down from their shelves. He has been working for hours when he finally found it.

It was an album, a simple album about the wonders of India, his homeland. And he saw directly on the cover page. He was so excited that he could hardly open the book to see what was the name of the place. It was called Dhemak Stupa and it was in the northern region of India.

* * *

Although Niki lost her sense of time a long time ago, she could feel that his saviors are late. She has just began to establish some kind of a biorhythm. She knew when she woke up, and she could tell how much time passed until they were coming. They came to her in the last two days but stress could be felt at any moment. Samuel was very cautious, strangely cautious, not just because he had to take care of his smaller brother – there was some deeper fear in his eyes when he looked at Niki.

Suddenly, the door began to creak. Niki turned there immediately and saw Abraham trying to get in her room without making any kind of noise.

"What..." she tried to ask but he showed her that remaining silent would be a better act.

"I came to help you." he whispered.

"Why alone?" she asked but he put his finger in front of his mouth again.

He grabbed her hand, as usual. It was now warm, even a bit hot. She could feel that something good is happening inside her. But she also felt something evil, too.

In this moment, the door opened with a huge bang.

"Get away from there!" yelled Samuel so loud that Niki's hand fell out of Abraham's as it turned weak. She looked up and saw that Samuel was holding a huge dagger in his hand, ready to hit her.

"W-why?" stammered Abraham.

"She's dangerous. I told you we're leaving tonight."

Something dark moved inside Niki as she heard these words.

"We can't..." began Abraham.

"Yes, we can if we want to stay alive." stated Samuel.

"I can help her..."

"No, you cannot! You haven't seen what I have. Her mind's dark and cursed."

"I can cure him. I can cure everybody."

"No!" interrupted Niki. "Get away! You're right. I'm fine. I'll get back."

"But you're not cured." said Abraham, turning to her and looking into her eyes. "You can't go away like that." Samuel's hand with the knife moved down. It seemed he didn't understand what Niki had said.

"Your brother's right." she whispered. "You can't cure this." As she looked at him, Micah came into her mind and he hugged him.

"He can't." said Samuel harshly and both of them looked at him. "But maybe I can."

* * *

Matt didn't know if Nolan Jefferson was able to hold out. The hospital where his daughter was lying in, made him feel like he was being tortured hard. And he didn't have to be a mind-reader to tell that. Nolan even asked once why they were here, although his mind had to be hold in strong chains. Luckily, none of the employees recognized him and he didn't recognize any of them, either.

They reached room 410. Both of the patients were sleeping, or in fact, they looked like they were. Nolan's excitement, anger and love raised during a split second. He ran to his daughter's bed and got down on his knees. Matt stepped there, too. Sabine resembled to Molly almost unbelievably, except her hair was dark. He tried to read Sabine's mind. He heard something, but it was like it was coming from far away. He thought he could hear the word "Daddy".

"Touch her." he said.

"What, man?"

"Touch her. She's waiting for you."

As Nolan touched his daughter's hand, the voice in Matt's head became stronger.

"I missed you." she said.

"She says she missed you."

"What the?" asked Nolan.

"Shut up." ordered Matt. "She's asking about your mother. Why don't you come together again?"

"How are you doing this?" he was amazed.

"Later. She asks why is your hand so silky? She knew it harder." He looked down and saw the spider silk-like material appearing at his hand.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked.

Matt didn't answer. He didn't want to say he wanted her to wake up. He saw how cruel Nolan's anger was, and he didn't know if he was strong enough to fix this. Looked like Sabine's problem was not in her mind, and if it was true, he could do nothing.

Suddenly, his cell phone rang and interrupted the conversation.

"Matt Parkman, NYPD." he said.

"Christian Kraft, LAPD." answered someone on the other end. "I'm glad to hear you're a police officer. I won't tell you good news."

He had a guess what this meant but he hoped that no murder happened. Because they used to say this in that case.

"Go on." he told Christian.

"You're ex-wife. Janice."

"What's with her?" he asked. He didn't want to show that he was shocked because of the name.

"Looks like she has been kidnapped."

Matt almost dropped the phone.

* * *

Peter was very confused during many days, during traveling to Austria. He was here, in the past, just a step away from his mother and what's he doing? Spying on her. He can't let her to see him. He couldn't imagine what effect that could have for her future, and for their present. She could get mad even. Although he knew her mother as a stronger person, he tried to imagine what would he imagine if this happened to him. Luckily, he couldn't do that really.

After his last attempt, he didn't try to read Angela's mind because he didn't know what might happen. Instead, he concentrated to Olivia but that didn't bring him too much results, either. She was very excited that she had been hired to the CIA (she had just began working there a few months earlier), and that she got such an experienced and admired partner. And she was excited that they were on a mission, such a mysterious one. Meeting with the Russians, their arch enemies, and the strange circumstances made this assignment even more interesting. For Peter, nothing really valuable. He didn't get new informations about Angela.

The situation didn't change much in Austria, either. Sometimes, they were just walking, looking around for possible meeting places or possible traps. They were quite easy to follow for someone with the abilities of Peter, but that didn't mean much.

The sun was just disappearing behind a huge mountain and it was getting darker and darker. Angela was still out while Olivia was sitting in their room, reading an Austrian newspaper. Peter was looking out of the window, looking for his mother to show up.

"Hey, could you repeat it?" shouted Olivia with a surprised voice. Peter turned back, but no one else was there. "Hey!" she shouted again, like someone who could be seen just by her.

In that moment, Angela opened the door.

"What's the matter?" she asked from Olivia.

"Nothing serious." she lied "I guess I was just starting falling asleep."

"Well, we can't let that happen again. We're on duty and we're reaching its end. We'll meet on Saturday, at the ball in the Harzheim castle. They called me and I've just got the invitations. What' wrong?"

"Did you say Harzheim castle?" Olivia asked with a shock on her face.

"Yeah, why?"

"You do remember how we got here, don't you?" she asked. "I think I received the same message like you in my head, just a few moments ago."

Angela's face started turning as white as Olivia's was.

* * *

"Hi, Molly." greeted Dr. Wang her, as she clumsily stepped in her room with a tray in her hands. "I've cooked for you."

Molly looked up smiling. "No octopus, OK?"

"No, of course. Although I don't know what do you like." Chicken with mushrooms didn't used to be the favorite food of children, and she wasn't a good cook but they shouldn't order pizza every day, should they, she thought.

"Well, Mohinder's was better." she said when she finished. Wang smiled. This was about what she had expected. She looked around in Molly's room and she thought if she could have had a room like this one. She had dreamed about it, trapped in rural China, and now here it was. Unfortunately, a bit late for her. She suddenly saw a photo about a small boy on her desk.

"Who's this?" asked curiously.

"Mohinder gave me this picture." answered Molly. "He wanted me to find him. But I couldn't."

"What should that mean?" she asked. She felt like something was waiting in her head to erupt.

"He's dead." stated Molly harshly. "I know there's no hope but I keep..."

"Could you come down to the lab?" she asked suddenly.

"Why?"

"I need something from you."

"No needles, please." she said.

"No needles. Just come, please."

They ran as fast as they could. Molly said something but Wang simply didn't hear it. Her mind was elsewhere. As they reached the lab, she sat to her computer. It didn't take a minute for her to find what she was looking for. On the monitor, there was an image of the Haitian from the Company's assignment tracker.

"Could you think about him?" asked Wang.

Molly seemed to concentrate.

"I can't find him, either." she said sadly. "But he's alive, isn't he?" she asked when she looked in the doctor's eyes.

"As far as I know, he's definitely alive. And he has an ability to block other's abilities."

* * *

"Welcome home." said an unknown woman to the Bennet family as she opened the door of the van.

"Where are we?" asked Sandra. "And who are you?"

"In Carson City, Nevada." she answered shortly. "My name isn't your business, just call me Ann."

"Why isn't it our business?" interrupted Claire.

"Because we won't meet again. Noah Bennet will return in a few days, to take care of you. I'm just here to give you the first instructions."

"If he' not here with us, then where is he?" asked Sandra.

"He and his partner are getting there instructions, too. But, let's speak about you. You'll regain the name Bennet. Luckily, it's quite a common name. Claire and Lyle Bennet are now pupils of the Carson High School. Noah Bennet will begin to work in a short time. Anything else will depend on him and his new partner."

So he won't be going with the Haitian, Claire thought. No more memory losses.

Then, Ann left, without any other word.

"Hey." said Lyle with a surprised voice as he looked on his watch.

"What's the matter?" asked his mother.

"What took them so long? It's March 23, and we had to travel only a few miles. What took them three days?"

* * *

Micah woke up with a bit of anger. It was the middle of the night and someone was shaking him.

"Hey?" he shouted. "What's the matter?"

"Quieter, please." whispered Monica.

"Monica, what are you doing? And what now?"

"I need your help, Micah." She looked very worried and a bit afraid.

"What's it?"

"I'll tell you on the way. Just get out please."

He did so as fast as he can. As they were going out, he watched Monica, her moves. He tried to move as quiet as she can. She was sneaking.

"What are you doing? I told you not to act like you were invincible." asked he outside the house.

"I know I'm not. I know I can't do anything. That's why I need you."

He definitely felt she had something to hide. Something that disturbed her.

"What's the matter?"

"I went to the police and asked about that man. They laughed at me. They said it wasn't my business. When I told them my story they laughed even louder. I was almost thrown out."

"So what do you want to do?"

"To get that data."

"How?" he raised his voice at this question.

"I need you to get it out of a police computer."

"What?! You want to break in?"

"Sneak in. I won't be taking anything I won't need."

Micah stopped and looked like he was hesitating if following her was the right choice for him.

"Please. I'll carry you in. And this'll be the only case."

He slowly stepped towards her and as she also started walking he followed her.

* * *

How foolish people can be, wondered Sylar. They simply believed him when he said he was from that non-existing magazine. They simply gave him a clear description about that boy, West Rosen. He knew what did he look like, even where was he having a lesson. But, despite that, he decided not to show up right after the bell rang. He was waiting until he saw West, heading out, looking lonely but a bit happy. He was free. But not for a long time, he thought. Sylar followed him to his car, patiently waiting for the right moment. He didn't want to attack in a place where everybody could see him. So, he didn't step in front of the car until he heard the sound of the engines.

"Hey, you freak..." yelled West as he saw Sylar but suddenly his voice lost its strength. He stepped out of the car. Sylar saw something in his eyes.

"Do we know each other?" he asked.

"Well, not really." he answered. "But I do know you. You're that Slayer guy."

Sylar gave him a grim smile. So he had already heard his name but he didn't realize what he was involved in. He didn't realize the danger. And he had to pay for that. West jumped towards him, grabbed him, and pushed him to the front of another car. But as he tried to turn to Sylar, West realized he couldn't move. He couldn't control his muscles, and he couldn't control his ability. He felt he was pushed into his car by an invisible force.

Sylar stepped into the car after him, closed the doors and froze the windows so nobody could see them.

"Before I kill you and take your ability "he whispered" you'll say my name properly. What is Sylar." And he began to cut West's head.

* * *

Hiro was even more shocked than he had thought before. Seeing a grave of a man like Nathan Petrelli was. Who always cared about others and helped them to save the world. He hardly cried.

"How did he die?" he asked.

"Three days ago, in the police station of Odessa, Texas, he was talking at a press conference organized by him and Matt Parkman. Someone from the crowd pulled out a gun, and shot him."

"Did they found the murderer?"

"Not yet. "he answered coldly. "But we're looking for him."

Hiro wasn't really listening to him. He was thinking about something else. If he could go back in time, he could help them. He could learn who was the killer. Just like he did with his father. He didn't want to change destiny, he didn't want to play God, but if everything goes planned, he won't.

He concentrated on the time Bob said and disappeared.

He didn't see anything but a huge flash of light.

* * *

He woke up in a different place. He was lying on a darkened floor.

"Freeze!" shouted a woman above him. He looked up and saw her. There wasn't anything extraordinary in her, except her hair was cut almost in her head so Hiro couldn't even decide what color did it have. And, more importantly, she was holding a huge machine gun in front of Hiro's face.

He tried to concentrate but somehow he couldn't teleport out of this situation.

"Your abilities won't work." she said. "We know that. We saw it. Now get your fat ass up and move. We don't have much time. We can't know if some of them are coming to you. Go!"


	7. Chapter 7: Three years gone

**Chapter 7: Three years gone**

We don't know what kind of a future lies ahead of us. Luckily, we can say. But if we could see, what the future holds, what are the darkest or brightest worlds are, the question is: what would you do otherwise. Would we know what to do to and what results we'll have? And, if needed, would we have the courage to step in front of the firestorm?

* * *

Hiro woke up in a different place. He was lying on a darkened floor.

"Freeze!" shouted a woman above him. He looked up and saw her. There wasn't anything extraordinary in her, except her hair was cut almost in her head so Hiro couldn't even decide what color did it have. And, more importantly, she was holding a huge machine gun in front of Hiro's face.

He tried to concentrate but somehow he couldn't teleport out of this situation.

"Your abilities won't work." she said. "We know that. We saw it. Now get your fat ass up and move. We don't have much time. We can't know if some of them are coming to you. Go!"

Hiro didn't have much choice. He simply couldn't imagine a situation like this. He got used to his ability so much, and it was hard to act like this. Simply doing nothing extraordinary, nothing super to get out from the throat of death. He felt small and lost. He didn't know how did he get here. And, in fact, he didn't know where he was. He just put his hands up and started walking like an ordinary man. Like an ordinary prisoner.

"Where are we? And who are you?" asked he while he had to move very carefully, not to fall down from the stairs that were burnt.

"A few years ago, this town had the name Odessa."

"Odessa, Texas?"

"Yeah, precisely."

"Stop. I have to stop a conference. There is something terrible going on."

"Something terrible is going on? What a good guess. And, in fact, there hasn't been a conference for many years."

Hiro tried to turn his arm, to see his watch, but he felt the gun on his back.

"Move. I'll bring you to our leader. She's not far away and she'll explain everything.

But something didn't want to leave Hiro rest and be quiet. How did she know that he had abilities. He was so curious, that he asked this from the woman.

"She told me you'll try to use your ability, but it won't work."

"Who is she?" Hiro asked.

"Soon you'll see."

After this conversation was the first time, when he really looked up and saw the environment around them. It was catastrophic. Most of the houses were burnt down, or at least heavily burnt, or demolished. The gardens and the fences of the houses were also burned down mostly, and there were several deep cracks in the asphalt of the road. He didn't see a bicycle, a newspaper, or even a human being or any sign of life around.

Suddenly, they heard a car coming and the girl started moving much faster. He grabbed Hiro's mouth so he couldn't speak and pulled him behind a ruined house. He tried to cry out, but she was simply stronger. After they had hidden from the car, she whispered to him.

"Don't say a word, and I'll let you speak and give you a gun. Do you understand this?"

Hiro nodded and her hand moved away from his mouth. She picked a gun from her belt, gave it to him and turned away, looking and listening to the street.

"Are they gone?" whispered Hiro.

"I hope so." she answered. "I can't here the car but we know the Seeker's here somewhere."

"The Seeker?"

"One of them. He senses human life." She waited for about a minute without a word then turned back to Hiro. She had to realize that Hiro's gun was just a few inches away from her face.

"What are you doing?" she asked without any sign of fear.

"Tell me what happened. And why do you treat me like a prisoner?"

She didn't say anything so Hiro shook the gun and moved closer to her.

"Tell me." he said.

"You have to half-cock it first." she said and she hit Hiro with the butt of her machine gun so he fell on the ground unconscious.

* * *

"_You could kill him and take his power. It would be much easier."_ Hiro woke up on a bed, and the girl who took and hit him, was talking in a language he didn't understand. He touched his face and he realized there was a big bruise on his right cheek.

"_No, it would make things just more complicated."_ answered another woman. "_Please, bring him here."_

She looked into his eyes and realized that he was awake. She was Asian, just like Hiro, was quite small, had green eyes and long, dark hair. And, she had an artificial arm.

"Soon you'll know everything you need." she whispered.

A man stepped in the room. He was much taller than the woman or Hiro, and wore horn-rimmed glasses.

"Hiro Nakamura." whispered Noah Bennet. Hiro was stunned that he heard his own name.

"_We can't know. We have to check him."_ said the woman. "_That's why Marie called you here. He can be one of their shape shifters."_

"What was hung on the wall of Kaito's office?"

Hiro was hardly frozen. He had just arrived here, in Odessa, and someone unknown asks him questions like this. Despite this, he decided to tell the truth.

"A painting. No, two of them. One of my mother and one of the frozen waterfall."

"He tells the truth. For some reason, his favorite was the waterfall. It must be him." said Noah.

"Then, he should be our savior." added the woman. "It might sound familiar, but you have to save the world."

Hiro stared from one face to another. They looked like they know exactly what he's capable of and what he'll have to do. And this filled him with fear.

* * *

"You're Hiro Nakamura and you can travel in time." the woman began. "My name is Dr. Wang Kwanzhe. I was born in China. But that doesn't really matter."

"What happened? What's this place?" he asked.

"For the second question, I have a clear answer. Three years ago, this place was the headquarters of the police in Odessa." She sighed. "For the first, I don't know what do you know and what you don't. Have you heard about the IV-s?"

"IV-s? What?"

"Then we can be in time. When did you started your time travel?"

"March 26."

"2007, I guess."

Hiro nodded.

"Look at your watch." He did so and had to realize that it wasn't working. It wasn't ticking.

"Please don't ask me about the exact date because we don't know it. We just guess that it's April 3, 2010."

"How?"

"It's a long story and has a few milestones. In May 2007, a virus was released..." she began.

"A virus? A virus that can kill everybody?" his voice was desperate. He fought so hard to stop Adam and the virus and he thought he failed.

"No. Not a virus like that. A computer virus."

"Computer virus?" he asked. He couldn't believe it. How could a computer virus cause such destruction?

"Yes, a computer virus. It was called Wyvern07 and we don't know many about it. We don't know where or how was it released but it attacked more than 99 percent of the world's computers in hours. Any computer connected to a network. It crushed everything, destructed the global information flow as well as the hardwares. In only a few hours, the world turned from systematic order to the deepest chaos. At this time, the first generation of the IV-s were in the shadows."

"Pardon, what is an IV?" Hiro asked.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. An IV is a human with abilities. At least, they call themselves IV-s. Meaning invincible."

"So I am..."

"Wait for the other parts, please. The IV-s were looking for allies. Criminals, villains like them, or simply people who wanted power. To rule. To change the world forever. Are you familiar with the Company?"

He nodded again.

"In the same month, a pack of these people attacked the Company Headquarters. As far as we know, all of the people in Hartsdale were killed. But they didn't expose themselves at that time either. Using the Company's data, they tracked down everyone known with manifested abilities. They tried to unite everyone with abilities. To share their goal, to rule over the world. Some of them decided to join the IV-s. The others were killed."

"How? How can, how could they kill people with powers so easily?"

"Their leader was a man named Nicolai. Nicolai Starnov. He has the ability to block others' abilities. With the power of this surprise, they managed to hunt down everyone." she gulped as she was saying this. "Including you."

"Me??" asked Hiro.

"Yes. I can just guess, but I think they didn't even tried you. You had strong contacts with some disps: your sister, and your friend, Ando Masahashi."

"Disps?" he asked. Another word he didn't understand.

"Dispensables. That's how they call people without abilities. Like Marie, like Noah, or like Ando. And this name shows how they treat them."

Hiro thought about the worst.

"So, they began to hunt down people with abilities. And maybe, here comes the most important milestone. They captured someone who can induce radioactivity."

"Like a nuclear bomb?" Hiro asked. He thought about Peter Petrelli.

"Yes, exactly. They imprisoned this person, unconsciously and forced him or her to induce radioactivity, but not like an atomic bomb. They are forcing a constant EMI out of him or her, so much that they can cover up the entire world with electromagnetic fog."

"And what does that mean?" Hiro asked. He wasn't an expert in Physics when he learned these things.

"Remember your watch. It stopped at the moment you arrived in this time. Nothing works that needs electronic voltage. Absolutely nothing. We simply can't communicate. Except voice and smoke signs. Like the stone age, exactly."

"Then, what can you do?"

"The best we can. We keep fighting. Sometimes we manage to steal a car but cars must return to the headquarters and report so sooner or later we get caught."

"And why are you the leader?" Hiro asked because he didn't have the smallest idea about this. Wang was a woman, a seemingly weak woman and although she seemed to be clever, he couldn't imagine her as a leader in war times, like these looked like.

"I guess we didn't mention this." said Marie behind the back of Hiro. She almost scared the soul out of him, so he needed time to realize that she was carrying a dish full of water, like some soup.

He expected Wang to wash her face, for example, in the water, but she didn't do that. Instead, she just looked into the water. Hiro tried to lean over it, too, but Marie stopped him. So he looked on the woman, and as she looked up, her eyes were like a blind man's eyes. In fact, he only saw eyes like these once: when he saw Isaac Mendez painting. He was sitting there, excited, what will she say when she wakes up. And he was thinking about new questions. For example, why wasn't she painting? And additionally, the most important one: if she had seen the future, why didn't she do anything to avoid it.

After a few moments, she woke up.

"Marie!" she said. "Call Noah, immediately. We got to move."

"What did you see?" asked Marie.

"They're here. They brought the Seeker. They can find us in any minute."

She moved as fast as she can, leaving Hiro with her.

"We got to move. I saw this room, you, this dish and them coming after us. You got to teleport out of here, back to your time."

Hiro tried immediately but he couldn't.

"I can't." he said.

"Then you'll come with us. And, keep trying! You're our only hope."

Noah and Marie burst into room with such power that Hiro thought they'll pick up him and Wang, but naturally the latter didn't happen.

"Get out!" shouted Noah and he was holding a gun, pointing to their escape direction. Marie led the way as the four of them was running through a corridor, then a tunnel, under the houses and the streets, until they reached another door, made of metal. After opening that, they ended up in a room that looked like a cellar. They had to stop because the tempo was a bit fast for Hiro and Wang and they had to breathe for a few seconds. For the two other, these seconds were like years.

Marie ran forward, climbed up on a small ladder and opened another door. The next moment she was grabbed, someone pulled her off, while she could just scream. Noah tried a shot but the metal door fell back as Marie was pulled out.

"Go back. Don't deal with me." said Noah although he didn't look back. He was constantly aiming for the door, looking to shoot anyone or anything coming down.

"I'm not leaving. Not now." said Wang. She climbed up the ladder and (surprisingly to Hiro) phased her bust up, so she could face their enemies. There was a sound of a terrible blast, pieces of the floor fell down on Noah and Hiro and smoke came down as well, too.

"Wang!" cried Noah for the woman.

"I'm here." she answered.

It took about a minute to find each other in the thick gas.

"Who's here?" asked Noah.

"The Seeker. And some new guy. I haven't seen him before. He shot some fluid at me, probably acid. When I tried to burn him, this happened."

"Marie?"

"I didn't get the best sight but I think we lost her."

Noah was effing and blinding silently.

"The smoke will cover us up." said Wang. "Maybe we can get out and escape again."

"I'll go..." Noah started to say something but floor under them started to crack, beginning from the door. Noah shot the door a few times, but nothing changed, until, during just a second, the earth and the walls moved at the same time, letting the door simply fall on the ground.

Hiro could just see their chaser for a moment. He had curly dark hair and a mustache and his skin was creole. And he was holding a cigarette lighter in his hand. Time seemed to slow down (Hiro didn't know if his ability caused this), Hiro saw that Noah tries to shoot again. The man clicked the lighter, and in a second flames flew out of it, covering up near the whole room.

Hiro concentrated as the light of the flames seemed to get closer and closer to him.

* * *

Hiro Nakamura simply fell on the ground. He knew he wasn't in the same time, he wasn't in the future. This time, the floor was covered with a carpet. He sat up and looked around. The painting of the frozen waterfall has already been gone, but the picture of Ishi Nakamura in its usual place.

He knew where he was: in the office of his family. This once belonged to his father, and now belongs to his sister.

He looked around again. He didn't see any sign of Kimiko. He looked at the calendar on the table: it showed the last week of March in 2007. He hoped he came here in time.

* * *

Sometimes, the role of luck or whatever you call it, is critical. Sometimes you face a firestorm, sometimes you got burnt in it, sometimes you burn in it and parish. Your soul might be free, but your life would be gone. So what would you choose if you knew the place where the firestorm starts only with a small, maybe even hidden and unnoticed flame?


	8. Chapter 8: Confessions among weapons

**Chapter 8: Confessions among weapons**

Mohinder was standing in the building of Dhemak stupa, staring to the face of Buddha's statue, and holding the urn containing his mother's ashes. He came here to seek answers but he didn't even know what to ask. He was standing there, mourning, and couldn't imagine what kind of answer can he find exactly here and now. He looked at the statue: it was peaceful like most of the Buddha statues. He tried to remember the teachings of Buddha but, in fact, his family wasn't really religious. If he remembered it right, his mother has just passed by, to the next life, made the next step on the excruciating path, here on Earth, or if she was ready, to the desired non-existence, the Nirvana. The enlightenment. He thought about it, he thought he would need, he would desire enlightenment, too. So many changes around him, turning the world upside down, changing it forever.

"_I think I haven't seen you so far._" said a woman behind him. Her voice was soft but very scaring in the empty sanctuary.

"_Who are you?_" asked Mohinder as he turned back slowly. He saw a woman who could be about the same age as he was, wearing clothes just like the monks did. But generally women weren't allowed to join the monks who were ready to devote their lives to meditation, to the seeking of wisdom, to Buddha.

"_I could ask this, too_." he answered. For a moment he thought that his sentence shocked her, but the look on her face disappeared in a second. Then, she bowed.

"_My name is Kamala._" She paused for a moment. "_I think I should leave you. You are mourning and I don't have the right to disturb you_."

"_Well_" interrupted Mohinder "_I'm not just mourning. I'm looking for answers. This temple. This sanctuary is in my dreams again and again_."

"_Many of us seek answers here. You've chosen wisely. Are your questions related to death?_"

"_I don't know._"

Suddenly, he felt her hand on his.

"_You weren't here?_" She looked, she sounded like a very sad, a very empathic person.

"_I wasn't. But I supposed to. I was in India when my father died away, and I was away when my mother died in India_."

"_Like me._" she whispered. "_I was hiding here when my only brother died, far away from here. I couldn't help him..._"

"_Did he need help?_" interrupted Mohinder but in a moment he realized what he had asked. "_Sorry, I didn't..._"

"_Well, I haven't told this to anyone for a long time. My brother worked in a foreign state and he was killed by his employers."_

"_By his employers? Why? What kind of employers are these?"_

"_I don't know. I only know that his friend came to me and told me what had happened to him."_

"_What a shame." _said Mohinder calmly. In these days, the days of mourning he couldn't really pay attention to someone else's pain. _"Why are you saying this to me?"_

"_Maybe you look gentle." _she sighed.

"_But maybe I'm not..."_

"_Don't worry." _she said. "_You won't want to talk to anybody about this. About this story. About me."_

And anything happened like she said. A few hours later, he could remember what had happened but he found it a ridiculous idea to tell anybody about the female monk.

* * *

"_Still no sign of him?" _asked Kimiko Nakamura from Ando. She was worried, very worried, she could hardly concentrate to the everyday life of Yamagato Industries.

"_No, nothing. I don't know any phone number. He didn't say anything. Only if..." _Something suddenly came to his mind, and he felt like a fool, that this didn't happen earlier. "_A few days ago, Hiro and I looked into some documents from your father's office. There were some files about a __Company in the USA. Hiro was very passionate about it. Maybe, they called him."_

"_Are you sure?"_

"_No, I'm not. But I haven't got a better idea."_

"_Why? Hiro spent only a few days in America, just like our father..."_

"_Yeah, but this company was a major connection between them."_ As he spoke and thought about it, he was surer and surer that the Company really called Hiro.

"_But why would they call him?"_

"_Hiro has this ability. Maybe they needed help."_

She seemed to think.

"_I know where those papers are. Let's go find them." _Her voice was full of confidence but Ando was shocked.

"_Let's go?" _said he, almost stunned. "_What about Yamagato?"_

"_He is my brother, and no matter what anyone else says, I do care for him. So I'll go away, to America, to that damned company, and I'll find him. You may come with me, but it's my mission. At least, I have one."_

* * *

Peter was both excited and worried about the ball in the Austrian castle. The air was cold, almost icy and he was worried, he didn't want to be accidentally noticed because of his simple breath. It could ruin everything, everything that was build and hidden so carefully. He had to realize, as he was waiting in front of the castle, that her mother was a gorgeous woman when she was young, much prettier without the wrinkles left by time, much prettier than her company, Olivia.

They were simply chatting, trying to hide their enthusiasm. They were greeted gently and one of the valets told them to look for a man in royal blue. They simply couldn't miss him. He was so flashy, his royal blue suit and red tie gave such a huge contrast, that is was easy to consider him as a fool, invited to entertain the guests. But as Peter looked inside his head, he didn't see even a bit of unnecessary thoughts. In his mind, it was clear that he had to meet the two Americans. Strangely, he didn't seem to be surprised because of Olivia, but definitely because of Angela.

He bowed in front of them.

"I expected a pair, but not a pair of two so beautiful women." All the blood in Olivia's face seemed to run out of it as the man kissed their hands.

"We're not here to hear compliments all night." said Angela harshly.

"Certainly, my ladies."

"You won't call us your ladies. At least, not until you tell us your name."

"I'm Konstantin Starnov."

"Well" began Angela "you didn't expect women, I expected you to have a military rank."

"If it matters, it's lieutenancy."

"Everything matters. And what did you want from us?" asked she, still with a very cold voice.

"I want to negotiate."

"Negotiate about what?" As Olivia began to came conscious again, she tried to pull Angela away from the Russian man.

"My bosses think you should give up..."

"Give up what?" said Angela with a grim smile.

"Give up this whole thing. This game called cold war or whatever."

"Why?" Her confidence seemed to drop a bit.

"Because we might have resources you don't."

"Do you want to threat us? Do you think you're lucky with women?"

"I don't want to hurt you. In fact, I don't need to."

"We have to discuss this." interrupted Olivia. "Alone."

Konstantin nodded with a smile on his face. As they got far enough from him, Olivia began to whisper.

"I heard his voice. In my head. I recognized it immediately. I just didn't want to say it."

"You did just the right thing." Angela's voice was still and cold again. "What do you think, what is he talking about?"

"I don't know. But I don't like to think about the possibilities." She looked very frightened.

"You don't need to worry. At the end of the night, we'll know much about these resources."

"How?" asked Olivia stunned.

"Watch and learn." said Angela. She turned back and went back.

Konstantin was now enjoying some champagne when they net him again.

"Lieutenant, I think it would be good for both of us to bury the hatchet. But before we suggest this decision, we would like to know what makes us to do this."

"You can't imagine."

"Oh, I have some fantasy."

"Shall we dance?"

Angela nodded curtly.

As they began to dance for the waltzer played, Konstantin whispered to Angela.

"Special people. They may look ordinary but they can do amazing things. Throwing flames, melt anything, break a concrete wall with their bare hands..."

"Or send a message to anyone in the world?" interrupted Angela. Konstantin froze.

"How?" he stammered.

"Your bosses are very over-confident. I think you won't want to look for me." She broke the hand-contact between them and began to run. Olivia short after her.

Peter would have expected Konstantin to go after them, but he just stood there if he was frozen.

* * *

The soft fluid was gone, maybe forever. Niki Sanders had to face her worst nightmares in the cellar of the unknown house. She felt like her brains were burned with flames, hot metal, or like someone was looking in it, and cutting it into parts, like a doctor, a surgeon. She just hoped that something like this was happening during the treatments of Samuel. It was tiring, much more tiring than the visits of Abraham, even despite she was near death that time. Sometimes she thought that Samuel weakened her, but this wasn't without any reason, because sometimes she felt something dark inside her. And she didn't know what happened to those parts of her.

"I'm sorry." whispered Samuel after he had finished one of his visits.

"Because of what?" asked Niki. "You're doing good. Both of you." Not like me, usually, she added for herself.

"About my behavior last time. Sometimes I'm very over-protective."

Niki didn't say anything. Samuel looked like he really wanted to say, to tell something just as dark as Jessica was.

"You know, we weren't born here. We've come from far away. In a country ruined by wars. Civil wars, genocide. I hope you can't imagine." He was definitely right. "It was a few years ago, when we realized these abilities. My mother didn't want us to be buried six feet under before our time comes. She gave all of our money to some smugglers, to transport us to somewhere safe. And it wasn't even enough."

"What happened to your father?" interrupted Niki.

"She was killed, a few years after Abraham was born."

"Oh, I'm sorry. May I ask you how old are you exactly?"

"Seventeen." he answered.

"And how did you get here if the money wasn't enough?"

"You know I can be impulsing." She tried to nod, but she couldn't.

"All I'm trying to tell that for me, Abraham is a bit more like my brother. Sometimes I feel like I was his father."

"What about your mother?" she asked.

"We don't know anything about her." he answered sadly.

"Well, I think I didn't tell you anything about my family, either. My husband was killed because of this ability, and I don't know anything about my son. He can be at the same age as Abraham. He's at some relatives, relatives of my husband, but I don't know about him, either."

For a few moments, none of them spoke.

"Then I think I should act fast." whispered Samuel.

* * *

"It's glad to see this pair team up again." said Bob calmly. "I have to make a few adjustments these days and I'm happy to see some of the old faces here again."

"Shut up, just give us our assignment." said Claude angrily.

"Well, you'll get a very special and familiar mission." He gave a file to Noah. He was shocked as he saw the photo inside. It was his own daughter's.

"What shall we do?" he asked and he threw the file back on the desk. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing. We've hidden them. Just like you."

"Meaning no field?"

"Let's say, we'll pull you away from the front line. Your first priority is your daughter. Isn't that what you have wanted? To stay with your family and protect them?"

"Then why with me?" asked Claude.

"In everyday life, Noah Bennet has to act like everyone else. Do his job, and so on. But you, Claude are not bothered with this. You can guard her at any time."

Claude began to laugh.

"Great!" he said. "You chased me down, captured me, threw me into a damned cell, and for what? Babysitting! My dream job ever."

"She's not a baby." said Noah, with a bit of anger.

"You'll discuss it outside. You'll be going to Carson City immediately." said Bob. They had no choice really but to leave. In fact, no choice for now, thought Claude.

* * *

"Do you really want to do this?" asked Micah, standing in front of the door of the police station. He felt cold, and was absolutely not sure that they are doing the right thing. "Are you sure there isn't another way?"

"Yes, I am." she answered shortly and she began to pick the lock of the door apart with some tools.

"What if the alarm goes off?"

"It won't." she said. "Do you know what was I doing last night? Practicing for this. I'll go in, disable the alarm ..."

"Why do you think you can?"

"I can. I'm prepared and I need that man. I don't want to be hunted."

"Yeah, but if you make a mistake you'll not be hunted but caught. This is crime."

"We've talked about this. I was almost killed. I want my life back." With a soft crack, the lock was opened. "And for that, I need to do this." She pulled a hood on her head, gave one to Micah and went in. She didn't simply walk on the floor, she was climbing on the walls and the roof of the corridor until she reached the service desk. She climbed down to it, pulled another small tool and began to twiddle something under it. A few moments later, she waved her hand that he can come in. Micah was thinking for a moment, but he thought there's no turning back now. So he pulled the hood on his head and ran in. When he reached the desk, the computer was already booting.

"See" whispered Monica. "We don't have to go any further than this point. Please, go on."

He laid his small hand on the computer and asked for the security cam tapes of the last week. The machine gave him exactly what he wanted. He told it to send it to an e-mail address, an address created by them only for this occasion. But something was wrong. The computer refused to do that. Micah looked into it. And saw something terrible. Something was making some noise, like a signal. The computer crashed, refused to do any command.

"Get out of here!" he shouted but before Monica could answer, someone yelled.

"Hands up! Freeze!" shouted a police officer, pointing his gun at Monica.

* * *

"So you're Kimiko Nakamura. The daughter of my friend Kaito." greeted Bob one of his new guests. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Please forget about all the unnecessary courtesy. I didn't come here to hear that."

"Well, then, what are you looking for?"

"Hiro Nakamura. My brother." answered Kimiko.

Bob seemed surprised.

"Your brother? Who can bend time and space?"

Just like Hiro used to say, thought Ando.

"Well" continued Bob "I would have also liked to ask you about him. I've never met him."

"What?" asked Ando shocked. "You weren't the one calling him?"

"Are you Ando Masahashi, a friend of him?" asked Bob. Ando nodded. "What call are you talking about?"

"A few days ago, someone called Hiro. He became happy and enthusiastic after it. He teleported away from Japan as fast as he could."

"Well, I guarantee, it wasn't me."

"But you were the ones related to Adam Monroe. And to this whole save-the-world stuff."

"We could have been, but I can show you my phone calls, if you want to, I haven't made a call to Japan for years."

"You could have manipulated it." stated Kimiko.

"Why would I do such thing?"

"You're bad asses. You were in the same team as Adam Monroe. You made a deadly virus." said Ando.

"Do you think we're really bad asses?" asked Bob, looking at Ando. "Then, I think you're not really interested in my proposal."

"What proposal?"

"You were beside Hiro Nakamura on his first journey in the USA. You can work with special people well. We, this Company always need employees, agents like you."

"Like Men in Black?" asked Ando. His anger disappeared and some kind of passion took its place.

"Something like that. You'll get a partner with abilities."

"Who? Can I meet him?" Kimiko tried to interrupt him but he simply didn't listen to her.

"At the moment not, but I can show you him." He turned the monitor of his computer towards Ando. In it, there was the surveillance from the cell of Nathan Petrelli. "I think you're already familiar with each other."

Ando looked at him like had just seen a ghost.

"If you're in we've booked you a room in Palace Antique."

Ando had to take a deep breath. He was hesitating. Bob's phone suddenly rang.

"I told you not to give any calls to me at the moment." he said.

"Sir, I think you should answer this." There was a short switch tone.

"Dad?" Bob's face fell. It was Elle's voice.

"Where are you, Elle?" There was a short pause.

"That doesn't matter. Where is Claire Bennet?"

"Why are you asking this?"

"I want to work on her case. I must."

"Elle, I've already sent someone there." Another short pause.

"Answer me, or you won't see me ever again. I'll put it down. I won't let..."

"No! Elle! Wait!" He was in a strange situation. Now he was the one without a choice. Don't matter what he had done or said, he loved his daughter. And she was here now, with one single wish. With this, he could get her back. "They're in Carson City, Nevada. Now, please tell me where you are."

"We'll meet there." she answered and put down the phone.

On the other end, Nicholas Senna was surprised how easy it was. He had only heard the girl's voice once but it was enough for him. He knew that Bob was her father, and although he was surprised that the Company didn't know anything about her location, he could turn this into his advantage. Now, he knew, where his destiny was leading him.

* * *

Angela reacted quickly. On the night of the ball, they both left with a plane to the United States. They wanted to disappear and they did just that. But, after they landed, and before they made their report to the agency, Angela made a telephone call. She didn't know that she wasn't alone: Peter was listening to her.

"Arthur, we need to get together. There are others like us on the commies' side, too. I met one of them during my mission. His name is Konstantin Starnov. Get Bob on the case. We must know everything about him."

Short pause.

"Yes, I can be more persuasive than him but they know me. They'll look for me. The power of gold should be enough. They don't have any, and they're greedy, very greedy."

Silence fell again.

"He's not the only one. There are others. Naturally, we must know everything about them, too. But first, find Starnov. He seemed to know a lot of them. Then, we have to kill them. All of them."

Peter was stunned by the cold and confident voice of his mother.

* * *

This time, Elle decided not to be aggressive. She simply knocked on the door. Someone looked out through the hole on it.

"Elle Bishop?" he asked. She nodded and he opened the door. Byron Bevington was a bit taller than she was, was in good trim, had short brown hair and brown eyes.

"You can see the future, huh?" she asked. She was impatient. "That's how you know my name?"

"Exactly." he answered.

"How can you see the future? I don't see any paintings." said she curiously as she looked around in the house. She turned back and saw that he was smiling.

"I'll show you." he answered. He stepped to a window, looking at the garden of his house.

"I see you. I see your death."

"My death?" asked she desperately. "When? How?"

He suddenly turned round and pointed a gun at her. She almost laughed.

"This?" asked she and tried to fire a lightning bolt towards him. But it didn't work.

"You missed. I'm next." he whispered. Before she could react, he tackled her and pushed her to the wall, putting the gun to her face. "Your ability won't work around me, whatever it is."

The push was strong, and without her ability, Elle was weak.

"I'll tell you why do you have to die here. Your damned father, Robert Bishop, was involved in the murder of mine, with some of his mates. I watched how they tortured him, forced him to betray his motherland and I saw how they killed him, and burned our house. But I stayed alive, and you'll become a part of my revenge, in this very moment."

"No!" shouted Elle. He took a step away and shot her in the chest. Then, two other bullets in her head. He was staring at Elle, when a younger, pot-bellied man came down the stairs.

"Not the best farewell to my old house, don't you think, Nicolai?"

"Didn't you see it, Byron?" replied Nicolai.

"Actually, I did" sighed he. "And some other things, you know."

"Yes, I do. Are you packed?" Byron nodded.

"I'll hide the corpse, as you said. I'll be back in an hour." said Nicolai. "Will you look into that window, while I'm gone?"

"I'll think about it." answered Byron.

* * *

"Well, Ann." began Bob after a few minutes of calming down. "I have your file in my hands, and I'm very glad that you have chosen us and we have chosen you." The woman opposite him nodded without a word. "You have been loyal, and have done a lot of messy, sometimes complicated work for the Company. So, you have been given a promotion."

For a moment, she smiled, but then, her pokerface returned.

"You'll get a partner with powers and an assignment right now."

"Who is my partner? Do I know him?"

"The correct word is her, and if I'm right, you don't know each other." He stood up, and opened the door of his office.

"Ann Willis" he began the instruction "meet Maya Herrera. Maya, she's Ann. Your new partner."

The two women greeted each other with a handshake.

"What's your ability?" asked Ann with enthusiasm. Maya didn't say a word, her eyes just fell.

"Later, Ann. Patience is very important, in this mission, too."

"What's the assignment?" asked Ann while she watched Bob sitting down again behind his desk.

"How do you prefer going back to Latin-America, Maya?" he asked.

First, she gulped. She could only answer after a few seconds.

"It makes me remember. I don't like it really. But you helped me, and I owe you."

Ann stored these words in her mind. Maya probably didn't have a very clear past.

During this, Bob gave them a thin document and a photo of a man with brown, creole skin and a small mustache.

"His name is Reginald Rios. We don't know much about him. Some tell that he had an argument with one of his acquaintances, and a few days later, this man's corpse was found in a yet unexplained condition."

"So we have to find out what happened?" asked Ann.

"And capture Rios as well. He proved that he is dangerous, very dangerous. You know the general instructions, Ann. During your flight to Bolivia, you can make Maya familiar with our policies. Good luck."

They were excited but full of fear. Both were rookies, both were new agents, sent on a seemingly dangerous mission on unfamiliar ground. Ann thought that it was about desperation time.

* * *

The door of Bob's office couldn't even close properly, when two men stepped in. Matt Parkman, and another man, unknown by Bob.

"What do you want?" asked he.

"I want to leave Nolan here." answered Matt.

"Why? What?"

"Listen here. I've helped you." Matt looked frustrated, angry and tired. "Now you'll help me. I have to travel away from here as fast as I can, and I won't bring him with me."

"Why?"

"Because it's my own business."

Matt began to hear Bob's thoughts.

"Great! I've just got rid of Claude, I'll get rid of Petrelli soon and now I get another one attached to me."

"What?" asked Matt.

Bob looked confused.

"You were thinking about a Petrelli." Matt pulled his gun, and Nolan pulled a string out of his pocket, too.

"I want to know more, Bob. Nathan's dead, Peter's disappeared, what the hell do you know?"

They stopped towards him, and he stepped back. He tried to pull someone out of his suit's pocket but Nolan was faster. He jumped on him, pushed him on his own desk, and held the string up, as he was trying to hit Bob.

"Calm down, Nolan." said Matt. "Just hold him there so I can talk to him."

"You made him a puppet, didn't you? Just like your father tried." he hissed.

"I'm not my father, Bob. But I don't like if something important is hidden from me." He began to read Bob's mind.

"No!" shouted he, but his thoughts were louder for Matt, for his mind.

"Nathan. Nathan Petrelli. Revived. Three floors down, in a cell. The cell is locked. The code..." The mind speech has gone silent. Instead, he heard that somebody has just half-cocked a gun behind them.

Both Nolan and Matt turned back. The Haitian was standing in the door of the office, pointing his gun at Nolan.

The only moment when nobody was looking at Bob was enough for him to pull his pistol out of his suit and place it beside Matt's neck.

"Shall we talk after we've calmed down, Mr. Parkman?" he asked quietly.


	9. Chapter 9: The sins of yesterday

**Chapter 9: The sins of yesterday**

"No!" shouted he, but his thoughts were louder for Matt, for his mind.

"Nathan. Nathan Petrelli. Revived. Three floors down, in a cell. The cell is locked. The code..." The mind speech has gone silent. Instead, he heard that somebody has just half-cocked a gun behind them.

Both Nolan and Matt turned back. The Haitian was standing in the door of the office, pointing his gun at Nolan.

The only moment when nobody was looking at Bob was enough for him to pull his pistol out of his suit and place it beside Matt's neck.

"Shall we talk after we've calmed down, Mr. Parkman?" he asked quietly.

"OK." said Matt. "Please, Nolan, put down your weapon."

"You made me a promise, don't you remember, Matt? You promised me help." hissed Nolan.

"Yes, I remember." he said. His voice was very tired. "But, at the moment, I need help, too."

"What kind of help?" interrupted Bob.

"It's not your business!" shouted back Matt.

"Now, let's see." began Bob with a calm voice. "You've brought this man called Nolan here. So it's just as my business as it is yours. And, even more, you know that Nathan Petrelli is alive. I'll show what's in my hand."

"Not with him around" argued Matt, pointing to the Haitian. "If he's around you'll tell lies for me."

Bob took a deep breath.

"Nathan Petrelli was resurrected, using the blood of an individual with regenerative powers."

"Why is he hidden?" he interrupted.

"I don't know if he can be trusted."

"And this is the way you'll learn it?"

"Because I don't have abilities like you do, I have to make extreme measures."

"What's your plan with him?" he asked. "This company did bad things and he tried to fix it. That's why he had to die?" asked he with raised voice. "You killed him, to remain hidden, and then revived him to do your bidding?"

"No, we didn't. We're looking for the assassin in this moment, too."

"What about my daughter, assholes?" shouted Nolan. "Her life is at stake."

"And how much more..." sighed Bob.

"That's why I brought him here." said Matt. "His daughter has been living in coma for years, if somebody needs that damned blood, then she does."

"Why? Why does she deserve it?"

Nolan jumped towards Bob, but the Haitian moved faster and shot him in the leg and he collapsed. Matt turned back, and pointed his gum at him.

"It'll just make him sleep a while." interrupted Bob. "Why are you doing such things, Matt? You're a good man. A policeman."

Slowly, Matt turned back again, looking at Bob.

"His family is at stake. Just like mine. My ex-wife has been kidnapped and I don't know why. I have to find out. I can learn things that ordinary people never could."

"Then where do you need help?"

"I won't bring him with me."

"Why do you want to leave him here?"

"Where else?" asked Matt.

"You've said his family is at stake. Let him deal with it."

"He's a murderer! I can't let him go back to normal life."

"Why can't you? You can make anybody do everything."

"I've said I'm not my father." sighed Matt. "There are some things I can't do."

"I see you're not." whispered Bob. "I'll help you. I'll give you some of the blood. Go after your own business."

* * *

Shortly after the affair in Austria, Angela quit from the agency. But Peter thought he haven't seen everything yet. There was one more thing that disturbed him about this. He tried the power of freezing time and it worked. So he sped up time, and watched what happened in their house. Sometimes he stopped and listened what his parents were talking about. It was weird for him, to see them – especially his father – so young, doing so cruel things. And then, one day, the thing he was waiting for, happened. They planned the murder and the travel to Russia. Naturally, they could ensure that their journey will remain a secret. He didn't wait for them to land, instead he teleported to the location found in Linderman's mind.

He looked around in the house. It was neatly equipped, although a bit old-fashioned with the old marble stairs and the chandeliers. It was like it carried a small piece of the castle's aura. He saw the man, Konstantin just having lunch with a kid who was about four. He looked at them, but remained invisible. They were talking, they were laughing, and after lunch, they were playing toghether.

Suddenly, there was a terrible boom. Konstantin looked at his son.

"Go Nicolai, go away!"

There were stairs, leading from the living room up to the first floor. Nicolai ran up it and Konstantin went out to see who has come.

"Angela Petrelli." he hissed. "I hoped we would never meet again. You've come here to die and you know that. Just one word..." In the next moment, he collapsed with a terrible shout.

"You won't have that word." whispered Arthur Petrelli as he appeared beside his wife. Linderman stepped in, brought a chair, put the still crying Konstantin on it and bound his hands.

"You've talked about several others like you." began Angela. "Tell me, who are they. And where can we find them?"

He didn't look at them, he was just staring in front of him. Then, Arthur closed his eyes and Konstantin began to scream again. Tears appeared in his eyes, the tears of pain.

"I won't become a traitor." he yelled.

"You don't have to become one." whispered Angela. "You already are. You'll just finish it."

Konstantin cried again. He needed a few seconds to breathe normally and to speak.

"Just because you can cause pain, you think you..." Arthur began to torture him again.

Peter couldn't move, even if he wanted to. He was shocked, depressed about the cruelty of the persons who loved so much.

"Tell me!" ordered Angela although it wasn't sure that Konstantin heard it because of his own cry. After it was finished for that time, he could hardly breathe.

"What will you give me?" he asked.

"Your life. Tell me! Who are they?"

"Joachim Schelle, Leipzig." he moaned the first name. "Oleg Siviliyov, St. Petersburg. Pavel Shirko, Brno. Dimitar Kramenko, Kazan. Roman Houdnov, Volgograd. Anatoliy Emiksazde, Tbilisi. Muhammad Batsur, Aden. Oleksiy Yavtshuk, Donetsk. Marcin Lazarowski, Warsaw." He sighed as he finished. "These are all the names I know. And now, will you let me go?"

"Daniel, Bob" said Angela "do what we've talked about. Thank you, Konstantin."

Linderman punched Konstantin so he became unconscious. Bob started to carry some tanks into the house. Then, he sprinkled oil out of it and Linderman put some money, jewelry in a sack, and just in the last minute, a photo of the kid. Just before Arthur dropped the match to ignite the oil, Peter saw the picture and Nicolai came into his mind. He stopped time and looked for him but he didn't found the boy. After he looked for him in the whole house – as far as he knew – he teleported away from here. He have seen enough. And even more.

* * *

Sandra Bennet opened the door as someone was knocking on it.

"Noah!" she cried and she fell into the hug of her husband. "Where have you been?" asked she, on the brink of crying.

"There were some misunderstandings."

"Misunderstandings?" asked Claire harshly as she appeared, too. "We've been almost attacked and you talk about misunderstandings?"

Noah looked at his daughter and saw the pain and anger in her eyes.

"I cannot do anything when I'm put into a cell in chains." he said.

"What?" asked Claire, Lyle and Sandra in the same moment.

"Go in." he advised. While he was pulling down his coat, he began. "I didn't follow the Company' s orders so they caught me. Because I wanted to be near you. But now, the orders will be much easier to follow."

"Why?" asked Sandra.

"Because I'm ordered to protect you?"

"Meaning us or me?" interrupted Claire.

Noah took a deep breath.

"The Company's concern is you, and only you, Claire. But I'm not a puppet of the company any more. I'm going to keep us all safe."

Silence fell for a minute, or maybe two.

"I'm so glad to see you home again." whispered Sandra and hugged her husband again. "I'll warm up the dinner." said she and she left.

"Dad." whispered Claire, turning back to her father again. "Who's your partner on this assignment?"

"I can handle this alone." he answered calmly.

Claire looked like she couldn't believe what she had heard.

"How? This is Company policy." she said. "One with abilities, one without them. It's like this all the time."

"I told you." whispered Noah. "I can handle this alone. Let's go and see what have your mother cooked." he said as some sweet aroma filled the room.

* * *

Wang was was almost stunned when she saw Mohinder back in the lab. She expected him not to come back to work so early, just a few days after his mother's death. As usual, he leaned over a microscope.

"Do you always work at night?" she asked as she looked on her watch. It was a few minutes before 8 am and there was quite a mess already.

"I've just got back and I thought I might make up my arrears."

"Well, it was natural." whispered she. "Did you sleep?"

"On the plane." answered Mohinder hastily.

"Did you find something that you're so obsessed about?"

"Totally nothing, and that's why I'm obsessed."

"Because maybe I did." stated she calmly.

"What?" exclaimed Mohinder.

"You cured a man in Haiti." began she. "You don't remember but that's not the point. This man has the ability to disable the abilities of others. That's why he became one of the main points of our research..."

"And I didn't even meet him again."

"No, Dr. Suresh, because he disables abilities through some kind of mind manipulation. We can't really use it, and if we can, the results are just temporary."

"Then why did you mention him?"

"His ability might not be totally unique." She pulled Nicolai's photo out of her pocket. "This boy might also have an ability like this. Maybe his ability is some kind of DNA alteration. But..."

"But?" asked Mohinder impatiently.

"But maybe not. Molly can't find him. It should not cause DNA alterations from miles away, should it?" She seemed to think about it.

"Whether it does or not, our boss wants us to find this boy." said Mohinder. "Even if he won't take us to the next level of our research."

* * *

For all they have done, Niki gave the boys something they could hardly thank for enough. She gave them some money. First, Samuel tried to refuse but she said that she wouldn't be able to keep it after all this time. So they've accepted it, and they have permitted some luxury for themselves: instead of looking for food in garbage, they both went to a store, with a wide smile on their faces. They've bought some cans, canned beans and meat and even some chocolate, too.

They wanted to pay when someone broke into the shop. Samuel pulled Abraham to the ground as one of the guys stepped to the cashier.

"Gimme all your damn money!" the taller robber shouted. "You stay there!" yelled he on Samuel and Abraham, pointing his machine gun directly on the latter. The next moment, hell broke loose. The cashier pulled a small gun from the counter in front of him, and shot the guy directly in the chest. All the weapons were roaring and the boys were so frightened that none of them could keep his eyes open. Samuel opened his ones after he heard nothing for some minutes. And he was shocked form what he saw. His brother was lying in his arms, like before, but his T-shirt was soaked with blood. And moreover, he was heaving. Samuel looked on him. Abraham was shot in the chest, more than twice. He looked around and saw the tall, now dead guy's gun in their direction. The bullets might have come from that weapon.

"Abe! Abe!" shouted Samuel. Abraham tried to move his hand but he was too weak. Samuel helped him and leaned it on Abraham's chest. "Come on." he whispered.

"No." murmured Abraham. "I can't. It doesn't work with me." He took a deep breath. Samuel shouted around in the shop for someone who could call an ambulance but seemingly no one was there alive.

"Someone! Help! He's wounded."

"Sam!" he heard his brother's weak voice and turned back. He never used to call him that. "Don't worry. I'm with dad." These words made Samuel cry. And these were Abraham's last words. He didn't know how long has he been there, but he left immediately when he heard the police sirens. He couldn't let the police find them. So Samuel pulled his brother's small, cold body out of the shop and disappeared in their cellar.

* * *

"Don't you like Latin-America?" asked Ann from Maya a few hours after they had landed in Bolivia. She didn't like it, didn't like the heat, the burning sunshine and the humid air that made her sweat.

"I had to left messily." gave Maya a short answer.

"Have you ever been here?" asked Ann again.

"No." Another curt answer. "What will we do?" asked she, after a few minutes of silence.

"First, we go to Rios' residence. We'll look for anything important."

"And if we don't find anything?"

"Then, it'll turn messier. We'll start looking in morgues and cemeteries."

Maya gulped.

"I didn't like it either, but I have to follow orders."

"Why?" asked Maya, but Ann didn't answer.

"I didn't know your ability at all." She stated instead.

"It's really nothing." answered Maya.

"But what? I know you have one. What's that? Do you shoot lasers, do you see through walls or what? Or are you telekinetic?"

"What's that?"

"Can you move things with your mind?" This expression ignited a flame in Maya and she felt the anger in her heart.

"Wha-at?" moaned Ann as her eyes began to turn black.

Maya thought about his exercises and stopped her ability quickly.

"You call this nothing?" asked Ann, still looking for air.

"It's evil." stated Maya.

"You'll better get used to it. We'll probably meet evil people, too."

* * *

Claire's first say in school was simply nothing. Nothing really different from her other first days. She thought she might be a record-breaker in having the most first days in school in a year. Unfortunately, this wasn't in the book of records and these changes wasn't legal at all. Then, she saw him. She could hardly forget that face. Besides the school, there was a playground with no children there now. And, Nicholas was sitting on one of the benches. There were some earphones in his ears, but despite that, he definitely notice Claire, stood up and walked towards her. She didn't know what to do so she didn't move until he reached her.

"Hi." he greeted her.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" she asked. In fact, she didn't expect to see him ever again.

"Why? Isn't it forbidden for anyone to sit on a playground bench and listen to Billy Talent?"

"No, it's not, but you weren't just sitting here and, additionally, you're not anyone."

"You think?" he asked and he smiled on her.

"Where's your partner? DeFargau or what?"

He moved closer to her and soften his voice to whisper.

"He's dead."

"What?" shouted Claire.

"He's killed. Sylar did it." he whispered.

"Then, how are you here?"

"I managed to get away. We follow orders, you know. I was ordered to run."

"You were the one in danger." she whispered. She looked worried. "How do you know I'm here? Do you work with my father now?"

"Yeah." he answered quickly. "I do. I 'm just getting used to his working methods."

"So you're gonna be my guardian?" asked Claire with a wide smile.

"We protect and serve." he said, using an unknown voice, probably a police officer's one.

"I hope it isn't forbidden to have a cup of coffee with your assignment." she said, still smiling.

"Wherever you go, I'll be with you." he said.

Suddenly, her phone rang. She looked on it. West. And suddenly, everything came to her mind. The boy who she had loved. The boy who took her to Hollywood, who made waffles for her, the boy who could fly. His former guardian. Her guardian angel. She picked up the phone.

"West?"

"Bad guess, Claire." hissed someone.

"You're not West. Who are you?" she asked.

"Your truest admirer. If I would know where you were I would fly directly to you. Because I want something from you..."

"Sylar?" shouted Claire.

"Good guess..." At this point, she put the phone down and burst into tears. West was dead. Sylar killed him just like he killed DeFargau. Nick tried to hold her but that was impossible.

"You must talk to dad. We've got to get him." stated she after she could calm down. "And this time, I'll be the bait."

"I can't let that." whispered Nick and they hugged each other.

* * *

"Can you inject her?" asked Matt when they've arrived to the hospital.

Nolan nodded.

"Good." said Matt and gave the syringe containing Claire's blood to him. "I won't be here when she wakes up." He shook Nolan's hand.

"And then what?" asked Nolan.

"Go back to your family." he sighed. "I have to deal with my own."

"Good luck, Matt." he murmured. "Thank you and if you need me."

"I'll call you. And good luck for you, too."

Matt turned around and walked away from Sabine Jefferson's room. He definitely needed luck and lots of it.

* * *

"What were you doing in there after all?" asked the white, bald police officer from both Micah and Monica. They didn't say a word. They've arranged this before, during their short time in a cell of the New Orleans Police Department.

"You're just making your situation worse. You're the luckier one, Mr. Sanders." Micah smiled. He hasn't been called Mr. Sanders yet. "You can get out of this with spending the rest of your childhood in a penitentiary. But you, Miss Dawson. You can stay in jail for quite a few years."

Suddenly, the room's door opened and three people stepped in. One of them had a police badge. The others were recognized by Micah, although he didn't see any of them many times. One of them was Japanese and visited his mother before his father had come home. The other one was smaller, white and he saw him at Kirby Plaza. Micah knew that he could fly but he didn't say it.

"What's this?" asked the officer who was talking to them before.

"The money is bailed." answered the other officer.

"What? That much?"

"Yes, that much." said the flying man curtly. "Can we take them?"

"Go on." said the police officer and opened Micah's and Monica's shackles.

They weren't treated like criminals. This was both strange and comfortable for Micah.

In front of the police station, the flying man leaned down to Micah and asked him.

"Are you Niki Sanders' son?"

He nodded.

"Boy genius, aren't you? You might be intelligent, but you should learn to use it wisely. We won't be there for you every time. Where's your mother?" he asked.

"She's dead." Micah whispered.

Both of the men looked shocked. After a few minutes of silence, the Japanese guy sounded.

"I'll bring him home." he said. "Take the girl with you."

"We're partners, Ando. We both bring Micah home. And then, we'll explain everything to Monica's family." So, all of them got in the men's car.

* * *

Noah has just closed his future office's door when Claude appeared from nothing behind his back.

"Let's go see what's been cooked!" said he with an ironic smile. "Mate, is this your best excuse? Because if it is, you're getting old for this job."

"Shut up and tell me why are you here."

"Mate, life is going on pretty fine with your little daughter."

"Tell me."

"She met a young blond idiot who tries to slip in my shoes."

"Meaning what?" asked Noah.

"Meaning he lied that he's working with you to protect him."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing." he shrugged as he said this.

"Keep an eye on him, won't you?"

"I can't clone myself, mate. But that's not all."

"I'm excited."

"A guy called Sylar called her."

"Called her?" Noah was totally shocked.

"Yeah. On her cell phone. What does that mean?"

"That means you should do some exercises."

Silence fell for a few seconds.

"That was my part, Bennet. Where is yours? Where's the Walker girl?"

"You didn't expect results in a day, didn't you?"

He shrugged again.

"I said that was babysitting was my dream job. But anything can make you bored? Even your dream job. Get it, Bennet?"

"Yeah. I get it." answered Noah.

* * *

Samuel opened the door of Niki's room and there was no doubt that he was angry and disturbed in his mind.

"We're done." he answered curtly. "Go home."

"What happened?" she asked. Then she saw that his clothes were soaked with blood and his face was wet, too.

"Abraham can't cure it?" she asked.

"Get out!" he shouted. She started going out but he yelled "He's dead. He could cure everyone except himself." He burst out in tears again. Niki hugged him, trying to protect him from some of the pain. This wasn't the time of words, and she didn't say any. She just held him in her hug. After he calmed down a bit, he took a huge knife out of his trousers and gave it to her.

"If I keep this, I might become really dangerous." he said. "Keep it and go away."

"You could come with me." she offered.

"I have something to finish." he stated and there wasn't any insecurity in his voice.

"If you change your mind, where will I find you?" asked Niki.

"In the news." he whispered.

* * *

"I won't leave until I get any news about my brother." stated Kimiko Nakamura, standing in Bob" office. "I don't matter what do you do, I don't matter how do you pay down that idiot Ando, I don't matter your call list, I know that you know more about my brother than you say."

"I can only say the things I've said before, Kimiko. I'm looking for Hiro as hard as you do."

Suddenly, something appeared out of thin air and fell on the office's floor. Kimiko was the first to reach to it, and she had to realize that it was Hiro.

"Hiro." she called her brother. "Wake up."

He just moaned. He looked up on his sister and his face fell back on the ground.

"Am I still at Yamagato?" he asked quietly.

"No" answered Kimiko. "You're at Hartsdale. Do you know where it is?"

He jumped up immediately.

"The Company?" he asked but he didn't need an answer as he saw Bob.

"Bob, Bob, listen to me." he spluttered. "We need to evacuate..."

"Hiro" interrupted Kimiko. "Do you know this man?"

"Yes. He called me to visit Nathan Petrelli, a friend of mine."

"So you didn't made a call to Japan?" shouted she at Bob.

"Not now. We have to get everyone and everything out of here as fast as we can. Bad people will come here."

"What do you mean bad people?" asked Bob. "We're well protected."

"Not well enough." stated Hiro. "Nicolai..." he began but he didn't remember the name properly.

"Nicolai Starnov?" asked Bob.

Hiro nodded enthusiastically as he recognized the name.

"Then, Angela was right. And as well as you, Hiro. If he's alive and we can't find him, that means trouble. Big trouble."

* * *

Peter appeared in their apartment. Now, it was cold and lonely since Nathan didn't live here.

"Mom!" he called.

"I'm here." answered she, coming down on the stairs. "You look like you saw a ghost."

"Because I did." he said, with his voice full of anger. "I saw the ghost of the past. I saw things you would never believe."

"I'm listening to you." she said calmly.

"In fact, I lied. You would believe. You must believe, you must accept what you were."

"What?" asked Angela.

"I learned much. I saw you. I saw what you were. Both you and dad. I saw what have you done. I saw how you tortured Starnov, I saw you. You're all like Linderman. You could do anything to win."

"It was war time." stated Angela. "We had to protect ourselves."

"I saw you were monsters. The problem is, you didn't change. You could have sacrificed me."

"Peter..."

"Don't! You could have let me become the destroyer of New York. After all you've done, after your evil plans, after your murders and tortures, how could you look into a mirror?" He raised his forefinger and noticed that it is slowly getting red.

"You were monsters. All of you." he stated.

"Does it change anything?" said Angela. "Does this change that I'm your mother?"

"It does change my thinking. About my parents. About the world. About everything I believe in and everything they believed in."

"Peter..." she sighed. He didn't really listen to her, just disappeared. "Peter!" she shouted. "No!"

She heard that someone knocked on the door.


	10. Chapter 10: A vampire's kiss

**Chapter 10: A vampire's kiss**

"Peter..."

"Don't! You could have let me become the destroyer of New York. After all you've done, after your evil plans, after your murders and tortures, how could you look into a mirror?" He raised his forefinger and noticed that it is slowly getting red.

"You were monsters. All of you." he stated.

"Does it change anything?" said Angela. "Does this change that I'm your mother?"

"It does change my thinking. About my parents. About the world. About everything I believe in and everything they believed in."

"Peter..." she sighed. He didn't really listen to her, just disappeared. "Peter!" she shouted. "No!"

She heard that someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" she stammered. She tried to look as confident as possible but this wasn't an easy task now.

There was no answer. Angela slowly stepped towards the door. And suddenly someone shot and broke in, with a pistol in his hand. As he saw Angela, he pointed the gun right at her chest. Angela was surprised that he didn't shoot her in the first minute but after she thought she saw through the situation, she squared her shoulders, looked into the man's brown eyes and said.

"Would you put that thing down? Our conversation would be much more comfortable."

But his hand didn't move. He just smiled.

"It's lovely, isn't it? You still rely on your ability, even in the last moment, Angela Petrelli? But it won't work if I'm around."

There was some accent in his voice, and as she heard her name, Angela became terrified. She'd heard this voice before. About a week ago. The man standing in front of her was Nicolai Starnov.

"What do you want from me?" she asked. Nicolai's smile grew wider.

"I want to know. To know how do you feel now that I gave a bit of liabilities back. And I even told you!" he laughed. Angela didn't say anything. "But you couldn't do anything. You couldn't and you can't do anything now. Face the truth: I've defeated you. I've killed your son, and I'll kill you, too. Where's that box, I ask?"

"You're too confident. My other son's still alive and he'll kill you."

"Sooner or later we'll meet. And possibly only one of us will walk away alive. But that's not today's business, Angela Petrelli. Good night. Greet my father!" He pulled the trigger and shot her. Nicolai stepped closer to her, to finish her at last. It was a pleasure for him.

"You know you did, Nicolai." she rattled before he shot two bullets in her head, too.

* * *

"Nicolai Starnov?" asked Bob.

Hiro nodded enthusiastically as he recognized the name.

"Then, Angela was right. And as well as you, Hiro. If he's alive and we can't find him, that means trouble. Big trouble."

"I don't care about your trouble!" shouted Kimiko. "You've lied to me! You've lied to the Nakamura family!" Her voice didn't turn lower as she looked at Hiro.

"You really lied to her?" asked Hiro.

Bob just shrugged.

"_You don't understand."_ said Hiro to his sister. "_If we didn't disappear, the world will be in terrible danger. Believe me, I've been in the future and none of us want to go on the way leading to it."_

"_Yet you trust a man who betrayed you."_

"_And who depends on me." _Hiro answered.

"_Excuse me"_ interrupted Bob _"but as I knew your father you were not really smart that you've supposed I can't talk Japanese." _He walked away from his desk and left the room, leaving them alone.

"_Please, Kimiko, trust me. He needs me as well as I need him."_

"_Why? Why do you all leave me alone?"_

"_I've seen the future. In that future, we're both dead. Killed."_

"_What? Why?" _She looked shocked.

"_You're killed because you don't have abilities."_

"_And you?"_

"_I'm killed because I'm your brother. And because I love you as my sister, Kimiko."_

Silence fell for a few moments.

"_Go on._" she sighed. _"Do your business like your idiot friend, Ando."_

"_Ando?" _asked Hiro. He was very surprised that he heard his name.

Suddenly, something landed behind Hiro with a bang. He turned back immediately: it was Peter Petrelli. Glowing in red, like Hiro saw him in front of the plaza.

"Hiro?" asked Peter as he looked up. "What are you doing here?"

"Peter Petrelli? Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"I don't know!" he jabbered. "So you have to stab me. Now! Where's your sword."

"Who's this?" asked Kimiko.

"I don't have it. I can't kill you. You're a good guy."

"Do it!" shouted Peter.

For a moment, chaos reigned. They didn't even hear the door swinging out. Bob stepped in and shot Peter in the chest. He collapsed but his glowing broke off.

* * *

We'll see if this worked, thought Sylar. Of course, he didn't expect Claire to chat with him, but he saw it possible that she'll come after him. Alone or not, it didn't really matter. Who can stop him now? Despite this he was alone, he couldn't do anything. He didn't have a clue, a guide where to go or what to do now. And sitting and waiting wasn't his favorite pastime. So, he began to become his own instruction: he bought some canvas and paint began to paint.

After hours, he woke up to see what he has done. There were many pictures in front if him, each of them with a number in its corner.

In the first, there was Claire struggling like someone was holding her in a stranglehold.

In the second, there dusty, black, Rastafarian holding a board like the taxi drivers at the airports. On the board there was only one word: Parkman.

In the third, Bennet was standing in a coat in front of a huge, red building.

In the fourth, there were two figures. One was Peter and the other one was a mid-aged, brown-haired man wearing a hat and a brown leather jacket. They were sitting at a table and the other man was drinking coffee.

In the fifth, a girl was standing and holding out her fist. Behind her, he could see Suresh badly injured, his clothes full of blood.

In the sixth, there was a small, black kid with curly hair. He was surrounded by many columns of green and blue numbers and a figure similar to a dragon's skull, also formed by these numbers.

In the seventh, he saw himself lying on a table, with two holes in his head and one in his chest.

In the eighth, there was New York again, turned to a smoking wasteland.

In the ninth, there was Peter, seemingly unconscious with lots of thin plastic tubes, like the ones in hospitals, coming out of his body.

In the tenth, there was that Japanese guy, Hiro looking on his cell phone. But Sylar couldn't see what was in the phone.

And, most importantly, he didn't understand what did these pictures mean.

* * *

Luck didn't follow Ann and Maya. They found Rios' residence burnt down and, as Ann had said before, they looked for any clues in several morgues. The seen things didn't comfort Maya, although they didn't find anything extraordinary. Ann didn't speak Spanish, so Maya had to negotiate with all the doctors. And she simply wasn't used to see corpses all day long. They've visited more than ten that day, and Maya was disgusted and harassed by all that happened that day. She didn't think that being a Company agent was so annoying. She stepped in with discomfort as she didn't want to see any more dead. In fact, haven't she seen enough?

She rang but no one answered. Ann pulled her gun and they broke in. There was silence and darkness, but still no people. Ann looked around carefully at every corner. And as they reached a greater room, where the corpses were stored normally, they found him. They immediately recognized Rios, who was looking around in the corpses that were on the ground. He was playing with a cigarette-lighter, igniting and causing the flames to erupt out of it.

Ann had clear sight on him and pulled the trigger. The gun banged and he fell on the ground, behind a gurney. She started to approach Rios but she told Maya to stay put and not to enter the room. As she reached the gurney, she realized that he wasn't there. And then, a huge hole appeared in the floor under her in one simple moment. She fell in it, and moreover, she dropped the gun, too.

Rios was behind her, he was hiding behind a corpse container and his arm was bleeding. He looked into Ann's eyes and stepped towards her. She tried to grab her gun, but it was too far and the hole was very deep. He reached her and kissed her.

Maya was terrified again. Ann's skin became lined and black as his lips toucher hers. She jumped out of her temporary shelter. She was definitely mad. Her eyes began blackening.

"_Stop!"_ she shouted.

Rios was rattling as he felt the poison in his body. He started collapsing. Maya took one step. And then, suddenly she felt like someone grabbed her head and pushed dashed it to the nearby wall. She fell unconscious.

Reginald Rios stood up. The woman in front of him was almost dead and his ability was recharged for a short time. He would wanted to suck out the energy from both of them, but he was bleeding heavily and he didn't have much time because someone surely heard the shot and called the police. And he didn't have enough power to face a police squad. So he left as quickly as he could. He had to find a doctor, and fast.

* * *

Sitting on the front seat of a car hasn't been causing joy for Micah for a long time. He was nervous. They did bad things, they were caught but released. But why? And who were these people? He thought about asking it, but in this situation he thought it wasn't the best idea. He expected them to talk but they didn't. The Japanese guy, named Ando, drove them home without a word.

Then, at the house he saw something amazing. Something he couldn't believe. His mother was sitting in front of the door, crying. As getting out of the car was safe, he jumped out of it and ran to her. She smiled but she looked sad at the same time. They hugged each other passionately. They haven't met for a long time.

"I was so worried." whispered Niki.

"You?" asked Micah surprised. "You supposed to be dead."

"I was saved. It was a miracle."

"How?" asked he. He could hear the two men slowly coming after him but they didn't say anything.

"Two boys found me. One of them could heal me. It was painful but I recovered."

"You didn't blow up?" he asked. He looked like he still couldn't believe what's happening.

"Probably I didn't. I had many burnt scars but they're gone now."

He looked on her arm, touched it, fondled it. Then he hugged her mother again and he started crying.

"I thought I had lost you."

"You can't get rid of me." whispered Niki, making both of them remember D.L.

"Can he do something about Dad?"

"The boy who cured me?" Micah nodded. "No, he can't. He's dead."

He took a deep breath and asked another question.

"What about your secret?" he whispered.

"She's gone. Under control."

"Sure?"

Niki didn't say a word, just nodded.

"Looks like we've misunderstood each other." interrupted Nathan. "We thought you were dead."

"I almost was, Mr. Petrelli." answered Niki.

"Call me Nathan." he said, but she didn't respond anything. She just looked at Ando and greeted him with a small nod.

"What's your business with my son?" she asked.

"I only brought him home. I'm returning a favor."

"For who?" she asked viciously but Micah calmed him down.

"For a company."

"A company?" asked Niki. "What did they promise to you?"

"They didn't make promises. They gave me a way back to life. I was cured like you."

"How?" asked Micah.

"I don't know. But speaking about this boy genius here, he tried to use his abilities for bad things."

"What?" asked Niki and she jumped up.

"They broke into a police office."

"You're lying!" she said and punched him in the face and made him bleed.

"Mom!" shouted Micah. "We did."

She slowly turned back to her son.

"We did. It was Monica's idea but I agreed with her. She was attacked and she wanted to find some white guy who hired a gang and organized a fight. Monica just missed death by an inch."

"Yet you shouldn't have done this."

"I know." he stated, staring down on the ground. "They brought us out of prison."

Niki was shocked by the word and stared at Ando who was aiding Nathan. The latter's nose was bleeding heavily.

"You, partners?" she asked and Ando nodded.

"What do you want from us?" asked she again.

"We don't want anything from you and your son." said Nathan weakly. "Our assignment is to bring Monica in and nothing else."

"Why?" asked Niki but suddenly Nathan's cell phone rang.

* * *

"Dad" began Claire "I have something important to tell you."

"I know, sweetheart." replied Noah. "My partner informed me about your conversation with Sylar."

"He did?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes. He's also ordered to protect you. But he couldn't tell me everything. So you must tell me everything you've said to him and anything that could gave him hidden information of your whereabout."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she argued.

"He told me he won't get really close to you. In fact, he isn't doing his best but he does what's the most important."

"Well, he didn't. And I didn't say anything to that psychopath. I put down the phone in the moment I realized that it was him. Because he called me from West's phone." You know who's him, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." he answered. Then, his memory wasn't erased, thought she. The Company's getting really sloppy. "If you didn't tell him anything, we'll stay put."

"Dad, there's one more thing."

"What else?" he asked.

"I'll try out for cheer leading. And I don't forget that you've lied to me. This is the first part of the payback." she stated and ran up into her room.

Noah decided not to go after her. In fact, he had lied for her even in the last few moments.

* * *

Christian was waiting for Matt at the airport and escorted him to a safe place where they could talk about this incident.

"Should I know you?" asked Matt. "I worked here about half a year ago and I don't remember you."

"No, you shouldn't." answered Christian as he closed the door. Matt started getting scared. "I know, I didn't choose the safest and the most peaceful way to get you here. I'm sorry. I won't lie. In fact, I couldn't, could I?"

"So?" asked Matt and started reading his mind. He looked for informations about Janice. This guy didn't lie about her. She was really kidnapped but his real goal was not finding her. He suddenly heard a word in his mind.

"FBI."

"I simply could not imagine" began Christian "how could a man like you become a star detective in the other end of the country. You couldn't pass your exam in LA. Yet, you get a hot case in New York, and even pull your boss into something beyond legal. That raises my suspicion. I'm a very suspicious man, you know."

Matt tried to tackle him but he was faster. He jumped away, pulled a gun and shot Matt in the leg. Slowly, everything got darker and darker around him.

* * *

The yelling of the strong, black boy got quieter slowly. This didn't bother Samuel. This was what he wanted. Soon, all of his resistance will be nothing. He looked in his wallet, to see who he was. He took it a long time ago. Hype Wilson. What an idiot name was that? He rattled and looked up, directly in Samuel's eyes. His eyes were red. No wonder, thought Samuel. He was tortured well. He grabbed Hype's head, as he began to scream again, for this time, just because of the fear.

"Do you hear me?" asked Samuel. Hype nodded.

"You don't want any more, do you?"

"No." he rattled.

"If you don't, you'll do me a favor." He curtly nodded again.

"I want a gang war." He could see the wondering and the hate in Hype's eyes but he couldn't say anything or move.

"No, man." he spat. Samuel dropped his head and it fell down on the ground.

"You know what I am capable of, Hype." he whispered. "So, I have to tell you that you'll do this for me and my family. Whether you want it or not. I want to see you all dead. You must pay."

Hype rattled something but it wasn't understandable. Samuel touched his forehead again and he started yelling.

* * *

"Is this all we have?" asked Mohinder, looking at the syringe held by Wang.

"So far, that's all I could invent."

Mohinder looked back to his microscope. He was frustrated.

"We haven't even modified the structure of the Shanti virus really."he stated. "That's your wonderful ability? We've been working for weeks..."

"Before us, it took years." interrupted Wang.

"I didn't finish my sentence. All I want to say is: we don't have any significant results. And that makes me nervous and doubtful."

"Did you know that at some people, nervousness stimulates the brain functions?"

"That's not the point!" shouted Mohinder. He picked up the first object near him – a pen –, grabbed it and slammed it to the ground.

"We can't even check if we had anything." he said sadly.

"Formerly, you had the chance."

"And I don't regret that I hadn't used the virus. I couldn't even watch a criminal, a murderer dying from something that I had created."

"You didn't say you're a pacifist." said Wang surprised and she smiled. "Having evolution all around me, that's what you say. And you say you can't kill someone, even a murder. Then, what about Sylar?"

"That's a totally different story." he said.

"Tell me. We have time."

"No, we don't." argued Mohinder.

"Because" whispered Wang" a criminal will be delivered here and we can test her – if we want to. But after this conversation, I doubt it."

"Should I show that I have a heart of stone?" he asked.

Suddenly, Mohinder's phone rang. It was an unknown number.

"Who's this?" he asked.

"Dr. Suresh, I'm Kamala. Do you remember me?"

Of course, he remembered.

"How do you know my name?" he asked. He didn't remember if he told that.

"That's not vital. I'm in Albuquerque."

"What?" That was not a coincidence, he knew that. Somehow, the girl found out where he was. But how?

"I'm at the airport. Could you pick me up, please? I have to talk to you. Urgently."

Mohinder paused for a moment. This was ridiculous.

"Yes, I'll be there in 10 minutes." he answered.

* * *

He hasn't had this feeling for a long time. Since Sylar started working, started his former passion, fixing watches, he learned that he could count on nobody. His mother was maybe his last reason but he realized that she had slipped out of his life long before she died. But now, this was strange. It was weird. It made him scare. His ten paintings were now packed but he couldn't get them out of his mind. The seventh one, mostly. But the scariest thing wasn't that. It was the paintings' complete senselessness. He couldn't put the pieces together.

He needed help and he hardly forgot how to ask for that, from who. He called the first number that came in his mind.

"Marie? It's me, Gabriel. Where are you?" he heard his voice and it just raised his fears. It was desperate.

"I'm on a train back to home. To New York. Why?"

"We must talk."

"Why? I don't understand you."

"Neither do I. Do you know the Kirby Plaza building?"

"Yes, I do."

"We'll meet in front of it. In two hours."

"Gabriel, I'm not a psychiatrist."

"No, you're majoring in Philosophy and I know that. Believe me, that's why I called you."

There was a short pause.

"Make that three hours. I won't be in New York in two hours. Goodbye." And she put down the phone immediately.

Sylar sighed. Things were just starting getting more complicated. He grabbed his paintings and flew into the skies.

* * *

"I didn't expect you to be here." said Claire when she saw Nicholas the day after Sylar called her, at the same place.

"Why?" he asked. He looked calm.

"You're just like the Company. Sloppy, sloppy and sloppy again. My dad said you would try to keep yourself away from me. He said you've told this to him."

He sighed.

"There are a few things I can't control."

"About what?" asked Claire.

For a long moment, he looked in her eyes.

"Can we take a walk?" he asked. Claire nodded. He just looked at the grass and began.

"How can you act like this?" he asked. "How can you admit that you're totally normal?"

"It's not easy." she answered. "There were messy things around me, and I don't like mess."

"Yeah, I know but..." he sighed again. "Maybe it's because of your ability. If you hide it properly, no one can notice it really. Am I right?"

"Yes, you are but why are you saying this? Why is it so difficult to believe? I don't want to be a superstar. I don't want to fall ten stories every day. I don't want to be a circus animal."

"You can't harm anyone!" he shouted. "Did you want to know that? That's the difference between you and me."

"What do you mean?" asked she surprised.

"When I discovered this, this unbelievable thing in my throat, in my veins, I couldn't control it. I've done bad things. Very bad things, in fact. I hurt people. I hurt people with the words I said in their names. I was even expelled but that was just the last thing. And then I met you. My first assignment. And other things have gone out of my control."

"I still don't understand."

"You're so innocent, so harmless. I grew up in a messy situation and you can't imagine what have I felt when I met you. Even the first time I saw you. I know I shouldn't say this, especially after yesterday. But I've fallen in love with you. And there's nothing that can save me."

Claire was shocked because of this confession. She couldn't say even a word. They were simply staring at each other, for a long time.

* * *

Peter didn't know the time when he wake up. His watch was not on his arm, yet a tube was in it and he was lying in a bed . But he knew he didn't need that. His gunshot wound was healed completely, he couldn't even see the scar of it. After a few minutes, Bob opened the door of his room.

"I see you're in good trim, Bob. Maybe you didn't forget the old days. The murders, the tortures." hissed Peter.

"I don't have much time so I begin with the most vital things, Peter. Nathan is alive."

"What?!" shouted he. That was impossible. Nathan was carried away by an ambulance but at that time, his body was cold and his heart stopped. Peter was a nurse, he knew that. "He couldn't survive that shot. He didn't!"

"He actually did and I know where he is."

"Where? When can I see him?" he asked.

"He's on his way and you'll meet each other as soon as possible. But I have a lot of things to do. Maybe you could help me." whispered Bob.

"Not now." answered Peter and Bob left. He sat up. He had to think. Nathan was alive, and that was shocking. Positively, of course but it definitely was. He wished if he could speak to him. To tell him how sorry he was, how angry he was about his parents and how insecure was he. And most of all, how much he loved Nathan.

* * *

Nathan's body juddered as he woke up. He looked up and realized he was in a hospital bed. His nose was fixed in some plastic mask. Ando was sitting next to him.

"What happened?" asked Nathan and he was surprised about the weakness of his voice.

"You lost much blood." he answered. "I brought you here."

"Where is Peter?"

"Who?

"Peter. My brother. Peter Petrelli."

"There's no one else here." said Ando and spread his arms out.

"Don't fool me. I heard his voice. He said he loved me. Don't think I can be fooled so easy!"

* * *

Sometimes, it just happens. It just comes. The dead come out of their graves, driven out of themselves, forgetting all the things that they have done in their lives. They don't seek answers, they don't need any. They just seek the warmth and the feelings of people. We don't know what makes them to follow that way. If it is their destiny or just the unlucky signs of the stars. But the worst thing is that anyone of us can become one of them. Some say, life doesn't end with death. It just begins with it. For the vampires, our parasites, our deepest fears and enemies, this sentence is true.


	11. Chapter 11: Out of answers

**Chapter 11: Out of answers**

"Where is Peter?" asked Nathan.

"Who?"

"Peter. My brother. Peter Petrelli."

"There's no one else here." said Ando and spread his arms out.

"Don't fool me. I heard his voice. He said he loved me. Don't think I can be fooled so easy!"

"I told you. I haven't seen him."

"Of course, you didn't." argued Nathan. "He can become invisible. Peter!" he shouted.

"Calm down, this is a hospital." whispered Ando but Nathan shouted out again.

After she heard the voice, Monica came into the room, too.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

"This is ridiculous." said Nathan, just talking in front of himself. "First, Bob calls me and tells me that he has found Peter and he's in Hartsdale. And now, I hear his voice in my head."

"Go there. To Hartsdale." suggested Monica.

"In this condition?" argued Ando.

"Yes, Ando." whispered Nathan. "She's right." he ripped the mask from his face, touched his nose – realizing that it still hurt – than asked them to get out of the room so he could change his clothes.

"You'll bring Monica in." he said to Ando after he had finished. "I'll take a shortcut."

* * *

Mohinder's anger immediately disappeared when he saw Kamala at the airport. She was still wearing the clothes she wore at the stupa, and looked innocent, sad and lost, looking for anyone's help. Naturally, nobody offered her that until Mohinder arrived.

"_What are you doing here?"_ he asked after he had pulled her away from the crowd waiting for the check-in. "_How did you get a visa? How could you call me? And in fact, how do you know my name and my phone number?_"

"_I know you're angry now_." she whispered. "_But I have to tell you something_."

She sighed.

"_What?_" asked Mohinder, trying to hurry her.

"_I cannot tell it here. Can we go somewhere else, safer?_"

"_Isn't this safe enough? Nobody's listening to us. Nobody has listened to you!_" He was getting angry again and he didn't understand himself, why is he doing this.

"_Because I didn't want to. But if you keep this yelling up, it won't be able to do that. I'm not able to do anything!_" Her voice broke and she burst out into tears. Mohinder hugged him.

"_I know you know people like me._" she whispered.

"_What_?" asked Mohinder.

"_I have an ability._" For a moment, he let her free and stared at her. So maybe that's how she could sneak up on him at the temple. And is this the reason of doing this small but meaningful sacrifice at all?

"_What...?_" he tried to ask her about her ability but she interrupted him.

"_I can copy the abilities of people around me._"

"_Like Peter Petrelli?_" he asked but he realized that she didn't know him. "_Never mind. You don't know him_."

"_But there is a problem." _she said. _"If I'm influenced by a strong emotion, whether it's hate or love or anything else, I can't use my ability. In fact, I can't use my abilities."_

"_That's why you came here? To ask me to fix you and your ability?"_

"_No, that's not why I came here for. It's my karma, you're not supposed to deal with it."_

"_Then why did you come here?"_

"_I can't use my ability since I met you?"_

"_Then what?" _asked Mohinder ironically. "_You want to kill me because you think I've made something wrong with you? That I've spoiled you?"_

"_Don't say these!" _she shouted. _"If I was in love with my ability I would probably say that. But that's not the reason. I know that I can't use my ability because of a strong emotional contact to someone. And I know that this person is you."_

She looked in his eyes and she saw the shocking terror in Mohinder's eyes.

"_You know my reasons now. Now, it's your karma, too."_

Mohinder didn't say anything, didn't look in her eyes. He was standing in front of a hard decision.

* * *

"Good morning, Matt." heard he as he was waking up at an unknown place.

"Who are you?" he shouted. The voice seemed familiar. His brain was recovering slowly. Memories came to his mind. He shot, but he had to realize that he wasn't dead. He was probably shot with some stunning material like the one Nolan was shot with. He tried to move his hands, his legs but he couldn't. His limbs were in chains, and his head was also fixed with something.

The other voice laughed. Christian Kraft's one.

"Man, you're really curious. Or forgetful maybe."

"Where's my wife?" shouted Matt. With his brain, he was trying to find the agent's brain. If he gained control of it, he could get out very easily and peacefully. He didn't find it and he didn't know if it was because of the stunning material or the distance.

"Man, if I knew that, I swear I would tell you."

"You don't know?" asked Matt, still looking for him.

"Hopefully you can't read my thoughts, but I don't know. Why do you care for her? You're much more important. And I'm one of the few people on earth who really know this. Am I right, Matt?"

"You're not. She's important, too." Kraft's words burned Matt's heart. Somewhere, deep in it, he still loved Janice. And maybe he didn't know that she was pregnant. "Just as important as me. I won't cooperate with you, if I don't see her." he said, much more confidently than he actually was.

"Let's just leave this case to your colleagues, the so-called cops. And speaking about you, you'll cooperate with us, whether you want it or not. Matt, you're intelligent, aren't you? What do you think, why am I not with you, talking face to face? And what do you think, what's that plastic band on your forehead?"

Matt cursed but there was no answer.

* * *

"What's the matter, Noah?" asked Claude, still invisible when he saw Noah coming out of a small, renovated office. The Primatech logo was already on the office's door.

"We're partners, Claude. Show me yourself!"

"I'm not in tune for it."

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Is there anything with Claire?"

"No, nothing really serious. I left her more than an hour ago as she's at your place."

"Than why did you come here?" asked Noah, still looking in the thin air, looking for any signs, moves of his partner.

"As you've said, we're partners. I'm doing my part of the job. And I don't see if you're doing it."

"Are you here to control me? Do you think that I'm afraid of you?"

"I'm just warning you. I'm looking after your baby girl, as you've asked. And what are you doing for me? Aside being a nice little company employee, a native one..."

"Don't call me that!" argued Noah.

"Prove it! You're just sitting in that office, acting like a paper salesman. Acting like a damn boss! The problem is, we both know that you're not one."

"I'm just gaining trust. I'm considered dangerous..."

"Well, you better gain it fast..." stated Claude.

"I'm not your puppet, Rains. You're following orders, just like me."

"You might not be my puppet, Bennet, but I'm not yours as well. And, if I'm ordered to protect your girl, remember our deal. Move! Get that Walker girl!"

"I can't track her down after she left New York." explained Noah.

"As I said, you'd better try." There was a short pause. "You're getting old, mate. You can't even find me. You can't see me."

"You're the invisible man or what?" asked Noah but there was no answer.

* * *

After hours of waiting and many tests, Maya could visit Ann at the hospital. The scenery was disastrous. The skin on Ann's face was darker than Maya's, it was wizen, and there were many deep, dark scars on it. Her eyes were lying deep, and she could only see a small part of them. She lost many of her hair and the res was gray or totally white.

"They can't explain it, of course they can't." she said, on a deep, growly voice, on a voice that resembled to death's one more than to her former voice. She turned her face and looked at Maya. She froze for a moment as she saw it but after a few blinks Ann turned back.

"My first real assignment." she murmured. "I knew it was desperation time and I was right. I wasn't ready for this. I wasn't tough enough."

"You did everything you could." stated Maya.

"It was just not enough. I wasn't experienced enough. And I won't get more."

"Why are you saying this?" asked Maya.

"How can I fit in now? Look at me: you see a monster. I'm useless. The company leaves me now. They won't cover my back now. I was an investment for them, and a bad one."

"Don't blame yourself. There's always a way back."

Ann turned to Maya again.

"No, there's not."

"Yes, there is." whispered Maya. "Because of my stupidity and naivety, I've lost my brother, the only person I should have ever trusted. And now, I'm here. There's always a way back."

"I can't live like this!" shouted Ann and she burst out in tears. After she calmed down, she whispered back to Maya.

"Do something for me, Maya."

"What?" she asked.

"Kill that bastard! No matter what they've told you. I don't want him to become a company agent ever. I don't want to see him in my place." She grabbed Maya's hand and looked in her eyes. Suddenly, Maya remembered what resembled most to Ann's skin: a tree's bark. Slowly, she nodded. He killed one of her friends, intentionally. He didn't deserve living, just like Sylar.

"And one more thing." whispered Ann. "Give me salvation, Maya. Kill me! Please!"

Maya remembered her time in the church in Venezuela. She tried to remember the shame, the desire to disappear from this world, without her ability, her curse.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Ann nodded. Maya closed the door and closed her eyes, too. She was thinking about death. She was dealing it now and it looked like she should get used to it.

* * *

Sylar looked at the red statue in front of Kirby Plaza. He remembered the last time he was here. How far does it seem, how many things have happened since then. Although it wasn't even six months ago. He grabbed Peter, tried to kill him, to have his power, and to prevent the explosion, then, Hiro appeared and suddenly, everything was gone. He was almost murdered, and he lost his powers after that. But he was tougher than that. He regained his abilities, proved his strength.

"Gabriel." he heard his own name and turned towards the voice. It was Marie, coming to him. She wasn't really neat, but she didn't had to. He looked on her and nearly saw the will in her. The will to understand. That was common in them.

"Why did you call me here?" she asked.

"Marie, I have to tell you something..."

"I'm not a fan of drama." she interrupted. "Rap it out!"

"You remember Suresh's book, don't you?"

She nodded.

"I didn't tell you that I've met Dr. Suresh before, before he died."

"Really?" she asked. He heard her voice changed, it was full of enthusiasm.

"And, in fact, I'm one of the people who he was talking about."

"So what?" she asked. "Can you regenerate, can you read my mind or can you fly?"

"At the moment, I can fly but I can do much more."

"Show me!" she said.

He just thought on it, and he was in the air, a few inches above the ground.

"That's amazing. You're my man." she said.

"Right." said Sylar after he reached the ground again. "You need my help and I need yours."

"You're welcome. What do you need?"

"I need you to think with me." He pointed at his paintings, packed for now. "I have another ability..." Marie shouted "Wow!" but he continued to go on. "I can paint the future. I've painted these not even a day ago and they don't make any sense for me."

Marie looked curious.

"I'll tell everything I know about these and I'll think with you. I have to figure out what these painting mean."

"OK." answered Marie. "I'm in."

* * *

Nathan had to consider himself lucky that the first person he met could tell where Peter was and that they were about to leave. So, although outside Peter's room, there were many people moving, they could talk quite peacefully. Nobody was listening to them.

"What happened to you?" asked Peter when he saw his brother.

"Work accident. Nothing. Now, tell me about yourself."

For a moment, Peter turned his face away.

"Did you know that mom was working for the CIA?" he asked.

"Yes, I did."

Peter was shocked about the answer.

"Before I had started my campaign, she told me about it." stated Nathan calmly.

"Do you know what they were doing?"

"No, but why does this matter?"

Peter sighed.

"When I tried to go back and save you, somehow I landed in the past. I found her, I followed her, avoiding being noticed. I didn't want to change history, I didn't want her to see me, because it would have messed up everything. I saw her. She was a spy, and a murder. I saw dad, too. Now I know his ability. He could cause pain."

"Wait, wait." interrupted Nathan. "What do you mean he could cause pain?"

"I don't know. The only thing I know that he was torturing someone with his mind." Peter gulped. "Before they killed that man and they even wanted to kill his baby child."

"Peter. I said that I don't care about that part of mom's life. You're the one who can read minds, but if you had seen her, you could have seen the shame and the regret in her eyes."

"She's still a killer, Nathan. Just like this Bob guy."

"They all changed."

"No, Nathan. Things don't change so easily. Remember Kirby Plaza. You were the one coming after me. Against their will. I know, you're not like them."

"I just want to make a better world."

"We both want. And we have the ability to that. In fact, we had. I almost blew up our house and this place, too. Something is wrong with me. And I need you to understand me, so I could understand myself as well."

Nathan stepped to his brother and grabbed his hand.

"I'm here, with you. Let's go make out first steps. Let's go and see mom."

Peter looked in his eyes and in the next moment, both of them disappeared without anyone noticing that.

* * *

Hiro grabbed his sister and they teleported away, back to her office.

"_Hiro!" _she shouted. "_I didn't travel so much for this. You trust a man who lied to your sister. Who lied to me! What are you doing?"_

Hiro wasn't really doing anything. He was just staring at Ishi Nakamura's painting.

"_Do you remember what she used to say?"_

"_What do you think about?"_ she asked.

"_She always said that we should be aware and take care of the future."_

"_Do you think that she referred to you?"_

"_She always said that we must take care of the world because of our children's cause. And that it wasn't just our family. Yamagato is also a family. And the biggest family is the world."_

"_I didn't think that you had listened to these after dad's stories."_

"_I was but I didn't understand them. For a long time. But now, I do and that's why I'm acting like this. And I know that she didn't refer just to me. We all can change the course of time, the future. I just got luckier that I might know what's coming and how can I make it go away."_

"_So what do you expect me to do? Sit here and twiddle my thumbs?"_

"_Be aware. It's not just me. I saw good things unintentionally destroyed by me and I regret that. You just have to find your own destiny. I think you belong here. And I don't."_

"_Go!" _hissed Kimiko. _"Go back and save the world again."_

Hiro made a small bow to her, then to her mother's photo. And, he left the room as he came in. During one small moment, without a trace.

* * *

Micah could still hardly believe that the woman standing in front of him, hugging him was his mother, Niki. And hearing that she could get rid of Jessica, seemed much more unbelievable. Yet, she looked nervous and after a few minutes of talking she left him and went to find Nana.

"Micah!" called she his name. "Please, pack your bags as fast as you can."

"Why?" asked he. "Are we moving?"

"Yes, we do. This place will become very dangerous very soon. I suggested Nana to go as far as she can, with her family, too."

"And what will happen to Monica? And how do you know that?"

"At the time, I think, Monica is safe. Much safer than we are." she sighed but didn't continue.

"How do you know this?"

"From one of my friends." she said as she turned to him.

Micah looked in her eyes and he knew that she won't tell more about this now.

"Everything will be all right, baby." she whispered. "We're going back to Vegas."

The idea wasn't really one of Micah's favorites but he wanted to stay with his mother. He didn't want to lose her again.

* * *

Mohinder was really rushing to the lab. He had a hard job trying to calm Kamala down – and in fact he couldn't be sure that he did that job well. And he was also curious, very curious. He wanted to know their lab rat, the villain with abilities. As he opened the door, he almost fell into the room from his surprise. There were three people in the lab: Wang, a Japanese guy and Monica Dawson.

"Is he our villain?" he asked, referring to the Japanese man,

Wang looked up from the files she was reading and stared to Mohinder.

"No. She is."

"What?" he asked scandalously.

"She broke into a police department and was caught. I don't think that she was a bad choice."

Mohinder gulped.

"Wait a minute. I'll bring my notepad and I'll inject her."

Monica looked at him and he could see the hear in her eyes. He slowly walked to his desk. He pulled out one of the drawers. And in the next moment, he grabbed a gun out of it and shot the Japanese man in the shoulder. He didn't want to kill him but he wanted to be left alone with Wang. He hoped that she was able to be persuaded.

"Don't push the alarm!" he roared. "Instead, tell me what do you see when you look in her eyes." He paused for a moment, waiting for an answer, but there wasn't any. "I've refused to give this serum to Monica before, to protect her innocence. I still see this innocence now. Do you hear me?!"

Still no answer. She should have been disappeared, got out of the room. But if she did, why didn't she push the alarm? He didn't have much time to think about this so he grabbed Monica's arm and pulled her out of the lab and the whole facility.

They got into his car and left the place as fast as they could.

* * *

Matt felt himself lost and pathetic. Everything about this damned ability. It has been very useful for him, many times. He couldn't have saved Molly without it. But at the moment he wished if he had something else. Why couldn't he have super strength now, to break his chains and the walls surrounding him? Or why didn't he have teleportation? Such an ironic situation.

And, suddenly, he heard the same sentence in his mind, on another voice.

"Such an ironic situation. I haven't come here to stay undercover, hidden from the eyes of everyone else, to guard some important. Important, huh? A freak."

Matt decided to show him who was the freak. He concentrated on the guy's mind, called upon him. He wanted him to open the door of his cell. He heard the huge metal door opening. So they didn't want to disable his ability. The problem was, that they had underestimated him. He ordered his guard to cut his chains, freeing him. He asked him about the way out, about the time, about the patrols, about the entry codes and the cards needed. He answered every question without a word. He grabbed his coat (although it was a bit tight for him) and ordered him to forget all the things happened. And, without being noticed, he slipped out the building.

* * *

Maya simply swept a few bits of paper away with her feet. She knew where she was walking She decided to face her fears. All of them. She had returned to Latin-America, she was speaking Spanish again but now she was a servant of good. And, although she was horrified because of what she had seen and about what she had to do, she decided to go and rest in Rios' long left residence. Suddenly, she saw a book lying on the floor. It was Crime and Punishment from Dostoevsky. She thought about Rios and her. They've all committed crimes. It was a bit strange that she has already received punishment and was an instrument of his one.

"I'm back." she grinned.

* * *

It was weekend and it was strange for Claire. She could have been herself. She wasn't in danger, her family was together, they didn't have to run anywhere. And still, she was disturbed. She thought about West. Her memories were both sweet and bitter. He was dead and she couldn't even talk with anyone about this. Sandra and Lyle surely didn't remember him, and she didn't know if Noah's alarm will go off if she mentions him. So, she went out to the local sports complex, just alone. She looked at the boys playing soccer (surprisingly, this sport was very popular, compared to Texas), but she couldn't really turn her thoughts off. She blamed herself, because of his death. And now, there was Nicholas. He said he loved her but he had to guard her. He was following orders. Did he resemble to her father in this question? She couldn't know that. She didn't know how much time she spent there, looking at the pitch, but without a single sign of interest. She only knew that it was a lot.

"Hi." said a calm voice behind her. Nicholas' one. She looked at her watch: he came just at the worst time, for him. "I didn't know you like soccer."

"You don't know a lot of things about me." she stated. "Please" she sighed "for a moment, I just want to be alone. I have to think."

For a moment, he didn't look in her eyes, instead, he looked at the ground.

"OK, you'll get your moment."

"And, in fact" she said "I'm about to go." She started walking to the exit door.

"Because of me?" asked Nicholas. "Claire, I know you're not well but please let me help you."

"In what?" she argued. They've reached the front door and Nicholas spotted their car, driven by Sandra.

"First, I have to decide who's my family and who is the right choice to tell anything about myself for."

Nicholas just gulped and stood still as Claire walked to the car. During walking, Claire heard a faint moan behind her back. She turned back and saw Nicholas collapsing. She walked to him to see what happened. And suddenly, something, an unknown force grabbed her waist so she couldn't move. She heard Sandra getting out of the car and shouting her name. She tried to fight against the force but it was slowly pulling her away. She cried for help but no one heard it except Sandra. As Sandra reached them, she tried to pull her back but in one moment, her head cricked back, looking like she was punched in the face and she fell to the ground, too.

Claire cried again and she felt like a piece of rag was put into her mouth. Slowly, the force twisted her arm behind her back. She felt the pain but she couldn't move her arms. She was totally disarmed, she couldn't move any part of her body. And she was carried away from the familiar ground.


	12. Chapter 12: Runaway

**Chapter 12: Runaway**

Claire woke up in the woods, beside a small campfire. She looked but didn't see anybody or anything significant since it was night. She didn't know when or had she fallen unconscious but she was a bit happy that she was awake now. Yet she was frightened. She didn't know anything this region. She didn't know where she was, she didn't know where the next city was. She only knew that she should not stay here. She slowly stood up. She still didn't see anyone. But someone had to ignite the campfire. She jumped up like a rabbit and began to run. For a few moments. Something tackled her and she was pushed to a nearby tree. She felt the pain but she still felt she was regenerating. She tried to stand up again but the force grabbed her neck and pushed her to the tree. Suddenly, a mid-aged man appeared out of nothing and he made her get even more frightened.

"I don't want to hurt you." he whispered. "In fact, I know I can't."

"How do you know about me?" asked Claire, amazed and afraid.

"What do you think? I was one of the two who brought you out of that damned fire."

"So you..."

"I worked with your father. You're right."

"Then why are we here?"

"I had to remind your father that he should hurry up and don't try to play the boss."

Claire tried a bluff.

"You'll surely get caught."

"Me?" he shrugged. "You hasn't known that I've even existed until I decided to show myself to you."

She looked into his light blue eyes and tried to speak confidently.

"He knows you. He'll find you. And you'll be in terrible danger when he does."

"You're still a kid. Let me tell you something about the people you're talking about. Hasn't your father told you how he had become my partner? Of course not, because he didn't know. Before him, my partner was an Indian guy, Haram Abderrahman. We were hunting a mass murder and she attacked him. We managed to deal the situation but Haram lost control for a moment and killed the bastard."

"And?" asked Claire. She didn't get the point.

"Haram disappeared. A few days after I noticed that he had left a message for me. He was killed by the Company."

Claire just stood there. Her neck was released so she could breath easily and so did she.

"Guess what. The Company killed my father, too." she said harshly.

* * *

As Nathan and Peter appeared at the door of their mansion, they didn't see anybody around. Nathan tried to yell, to call their mother's name out, but Peter suddenly grabbed his face, causing him to remain silent. Two policemen were moving towards them. Peter pulled his brother away from them and turned both of them invisible.

"Pretty messy." said one of them, a white-haired man. "This whole mansion without any heir. One kid murdered, one disappeared and now the mother killed."

"I bet it was some relative of her." said the other. "Maybe we should ask them if they have an alibi."

"Since there's no sign of intruder. She probably knew her assassin. Poor dame."

They opened the door during their conversation and left the mansion. But Peter didn't let Nathan go until he hit his younger brother.

"Peter!" shouted Nathan. He didn't answer. Tears started to appear in his eyes and he fell down. He looked like he could hardly keep his conscience.

"Mom's dead." he said. "Mom's dead."

"Peter." whispered Nathan. "We should expose ourselves. We must seek revenge. And Mom deserves to be mourned by her sons."

Peter's mind was full of thoughts. In one moment, he thought that Nathan was totally right, in another he thought that his survival should be kept secret, he thought about bringing Angela back, just like Nathan, and at another time, for one small moment, he thought that Nathan wasn't even crying. He was just as cold as Angela was, like their father was when Konstantin was killed.

"Peter! Peter!" he didn't hear Nathan's voice for a short time and he had to realize that his brother wasn't just calling his name out. He was crying in pain.

"Peter! What are you doing to me?"

Peter couldn't answer him. He didn't know what he was doing, he just saw Nathan in agony. Just like Konstantin's agony, when Arthur used his ability. He tried to stop it, come to conscience but he failed.

Nathan couldn't open his eyes for a short time. When he finally could, the remains of the immense pain were still in his bones, in his muscles, in his brain. But Peter was gone.

"Peter!" he shouted, calling his name. There was no answer.

* * *

"Did you find anything?" asked Sylar from Marie. "Do you have any idea?"

"Well" she answered "first, I looked around in the Internet. And guess what. I found the name on the second picture. Matt Parkman. He's a police officer and he lives here." As she was talking she threw a printed photo in front of him. Then, she grabbed her coat and moved towards the door of her flat.

"Where are you going?" asked Sylar.

"To the police station. I'll see this Parkman guy." she answered.

Sylar had a strange feeling about Parkman. As he saw the photo, he immediately recognized him and knew that he saw him at Kirby Plaza. At Kirby Plaza, surrounded by many people connected. He didn't know if he had an ability but his intuition told him not to meet him before Marie had.

"What should I do?" asked he.

"Don't you have an ability to cook?" she asked, smiling.

"Actually, I don't." he answered.

"Looks like you've bet on the wrong horse. I'm a terrible cook. Well, if you feel up to it, you can paint something." With these words, she closed the door.

For some reason, he couldn't help smiling.

* * *

Mohinder rushed so hastily in his flat, that his pure speed made Kamala frightened.

"Pack anything you want and get in the car outside." he said and he grabbed one of his bags.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Away." he answered curtly. She tried to read his mind but she managed to get only a few words. She thought that he was happy that he had decided to rent another flat, outside the facility, even if he had to leave Molly there. He couldn't have managed to make this escape out of the lab.

Kamala walked out of the flat and jumped to the back seat of Mohinder's car. There was another girl, a black one. She looked frightened, much more afraid than herself or Mohinder.

"I'm Monica." she whispered. Her voice sounded much more confident and much maturer than her look. "Monica Dawson."

"I'm Kamala. Kamala Abderrahman." she answered, after a short gulp. His brother told her not to give away her name but she trusted Mohinder. And she trusted him that he won't bring anyone near her who can pose a threat to her. And, in fact, she didn't see anything neither in Monica's soft, dark eyes nor in her thoughts.

With a loud bang, Mohinder jumped in the car, too.

"Where are we going?" asked both of the women.

"I don't know." he sighed. "The only thing I know that we can't stay here."

* * *

Nicholas woke up to something cold. Someone was spraying water in his eyes.

"I didn't expect to meet you this way, agent Senna." He heard a man's deep but cold voice. He knew he had heard this one before, even if from tape. It was Noah Bennet's voice.

"Neither did I" answered Nicholas, using Bennet's voice. "agent Bennet."

Bennet quickly pulled a gun, and hit Nicholas' face with it.

"If I kill you" he whispered "I won't get any answers."

"Answers for what? I don't work for the Company any more."

"No, you're just pretending that, to get close to Claire. Am I right?" he shouted. "Where is she? Don't think I won't kill you if I think you're useless.

Nicholas tried to remember. The only thing he knew that he was hit at the arena. He didn't know what happened to Claire after that.

"Tell me where's your damned friend, Claude Rains!" yelled Bennet.

"I don't know who you're talking about." stammered Nicholas.

"Then, where's Sylar?"

"I don't know. He killed DeFargau. He ordered me to run and I ran. Claire was safe. I didn't have anything to do there. I hardly got away."

Bennet paused for about a minute. This just made Nicholas more and more frightened. If he could see in his head...

"You know, Claire didn't mention you. I knew about your existence from another source. Do you know why?"

"No, Mr. Bennet, I don't. But I have to tell that we are all in the same boat. We both want the same thing: your daughter safe and happy."

"Why should I believe you?" he asked.

"Don't. But I bet, if you realize that I'm lying, I'll be shot down like a dog. Please, let me help you. Do you know where could this Rains guy be?"

Noah didn't answer just cut his ropes and put his gun away.

* * *

"We're all clean." told the gangster named Spike, who was the leader of this group of 17th street gang members. But that didn't help. All of them was searched, and after that, the Dallars let them do the same. Spike decided to search the two main guys. He didn't find anything at the first one, and he tried to step to the other guy, Hype, when he quickly pulled his gun and put it to his head. Everyone was watching him.

"It's just business, man." whispered Spike. "What do you want?"

"I want it to end." Hype Wilson pulled the trigger, and then, before anybody could reach him, shot down himself, too.

* * *

If Matt hadn't had this ability, he would have been hopeless. But since he could control everybody's brain, he could escape quite easily, order the first homeless to change clothes with him, and even persuade the taxi driver to take him to his house without being forced to pay. As he got out of the cab, he was in a dark but nostalgic mood. The cordons that were out because the house was a crime scene, were already removed and his former house looked almost new. Except, all the curtains were shirred, and that made Matt feel really strange. It was his house, but it wasn't. He walked to the door, and tried to open it. Naturally, it was closed. He looked around, scratching his head. He didn't have the keys to this house any more and there was no one around who could let him in. Suddenly, he heard a faint noise. He instinctively tried to finger his gun, but it wasn't there. A black, seemingly homeless man with rasta hair was stepping out from beside the house.

"Hey, man, are you this?" he murmured. As he spoke, his voice let Matt know that he was possibly drunk. He showed him a paper, with the name "Parkman" on it.

Matt didn't ask anything about the man, about how does he know his name. He got into his head without any hesitation. He read his memories. It didn't take to long for him to find the one he was looking for. The man was woken up by someone, in the middle of the night, in downtown LA. There wasn't many light, so the only thing he saw that the man who woke him up, was wearing glasses. He told the black man where to go, gave him the paper and twenty dollars. Then, he simply walked away and the black man fell asleep again. The next morning, he looked at the paper but it meant nothing to him so he decided to go there and find this Parkman guy. Maybe he gives him more than twenty bucks.

Matt became furious and tore out the paper from the man's hand and began to read the back of it.

"We have what you want. Get to the place of the Malsky incident. We'll contact you soon."

* * *

Peter simply flopped down and took a look at his bare hands. He was totally devastated because of what he had done. He attacked his brother, the person he loved the most. He was confused. He didn't know why he wasn't able to stop torturing Nathan. He thought about their parents. There were so many things they didn't know about them. He didn't even know that his father, his beloved father had an ability. He couldn't imagine how and when did he use it. How did he become familiar with it? Was it a curse or a blessing for him? Did he torture Angela, too, just accidentally? And were there any more questions about it? How did they handle their abilities? How could they decide when or how should they use it? So many questions, he could have asked from them but he didn't. And now, they are all dead, and he is near to lose the only person he can trust. He must be miles away from him. And in fact, he didn't know where he was. He looked around and realized that he was in Odessa, just in front of the police station. At the place where he saw his present mother for the last time.

He thought if this was a sign? Does anyone want anything with him or is he just a useless piece, forced to pretend to be someone he's not. Forced not to use his abilities, because of their instabilities and those posed a threat to anyone around him? He thought about living without any human contact, like a hermit. This was the moment when he blacked out.

* * *

Marie considered herself as very lucky. He got into the police station without any unnecessary questions. No one asked her if he knows Parkman, or why is she looking for him. He got to his partner in minutes. His name was Fuller and he was a mid-aged, black officer.

"Why isn't Mr. Parkman here?" she asked. "I would like to talk with him."

"Miss Williams" answered Fuller with pure disappointment "believe me, if I had any information about Matt Parkman, I would tell it to you in this very moment."

"How do you mean you don't know anything about him?" she asked, confused.

"He has gone out of town almost without a word. I got a message that he was on holiday in LA because of some family business. Since then, I tried to call him many times, but no one answered my calls."

Marie was disappointed, too. They saw an exact name on one of the paintings. A clue to solve a maybe colossal mystery but it just slipped away. She left her number at Fuller and asked him to contact her if they have any information about Parkman but unfortunately this was the most she can do.

She walked out of the Fuller's office with her head turned down. Suddenly, something came to his mind from Psychology lectures which she had attended to before. She decided to suggest herself. In fact, she could do everything she could and they have more clues to go after. In addition, it might have become more since she had left. She lifted her head and her focus. And she almost froze. She saw a too familiar face on the wanted list. Although he wore glasses, he could recognize Gabriel. She read why he was wanted for. She became shocked when she realized that Gabriel Gray had murdered his own mother. And this man was resting in her house. Despite this, she decided not to tell the police. She was frightened but this made her even more courageous. She wanted to see how she can handle a man like him.

* * *

Hiro moved as quick as he could – and this meant unimaginably fast. First, he went to Hartsdale but he had to realize that there were just workers, moving the whole facility. Luckily, one of them could tell him where they were heading. As he appeared in New Mexico, he ran directly into Bob. He tried to say something but Hiro didn't listen to him, just ran towards the first, hospital-looking door he saw. He find what he wanted: Ando was lying in a bed, he was conscious but his shoulder was covered with some drape and it was a bit bloody. As Hiro stepped in – with Bob on his heels – Ando smiled on him.

"_What happened, Ando?"_ asked he.

"_Nothing serious, the doctor says. It's just a surface wound."_

"_I'm sorry." _he murmured. "_I shouldn't have let this happen."_

Ando still smiled.

"_I tried to be Men In Black. Maybe I'm not tough enough."_

"_Don't say that. You are my partner. Forever."_

"_In the cubicle. It's dangerous outside."_

"_You saved me many times. I'm sorry, my friend, for not being at the right place when you needed me."_

Ando offered Hiro his hand.

"I'm OK, Hiro."

"Just a few days, and you can go back on track again" interrupted a woman "if you want to. If Mohinder wanted to kill you, he would have done it. But no, he shot you in the shoulder."

Hiro turned back and became amazed in one simple moment.

"Dr. Wang Kwanze."

"Kwanzhe's the correct form, Mister. Do we know each other?" asked Wang.

"We've already met. Three years later, in the future."

Everybody's face fell, except his.

* * *

Claire was in a total stress during the hours of hiding. They have settled down in a lodge for the night, because Claude said he needed sleep. Claire did need some too, but she was too excited to fall asleep. Since Claude was invisible, even during sleeping, she couldn't know if he's really asleep and so she could try to escape or he is just watching her. She pulled the blanket on her, closed her eyes, acted like she was asleep, but her mind was like a power station.

Suddenly, she heard some wood, the material of the lodge breaking and in the next moment, something was thrown in the room. She opened her eyes for one moment and it was a very bad decision. It was a flashbang and it exploded just when she tried to look around. Although she didn't see anything, she jumped up and shouted for help.

Someone grabbed her but he couldn't decide who was it.

"Help!" shouted she but there was no answer. So she thought it was Claude holding her again.

"You knew that this would happen, Claude. You knew you wouldn't be able to hide now." This voice was a lifeline for Claire. It was Noah's voice.

"Now nobody can see each other. We're evenly matched, Claude." If the first voice was a lifeline, this one pushed both of them to the deepest darkness. It was Noah's voice, too, but from another place.

"Let's make things clear, Bennet." shouted Claude. "Your daughter is in my hands. So you'll let me go away."

"And what prevents me from shooting you down?"

"Dad!" shouted Claire. "Help me!"

"No, he won't!" shouted Claude. "Let us go!"

"Yes, he will!" shouted Claude again, but from another place, farther from Claire.

"What the...?" yelled Claude beside Claire's ear.

Claire felt that the hold is becoming weaker until Claude let her go.

"I'm here, Claire Bear." whispered Noah.

Slowly, her sight became clearer. Noah was hugging her and Nicholas' blond hair was almost lighting in the darkness. As she stepped, she realized that Claude was lying dead on the floor, and she was standing in his blood.

"I lied." said Noah. "I brought some IR glasses."

He looked down on Claude's corpse. "No one gets away with hurting my family, Claude Rains."

* * *

You might run. You might run as fast as you can but you can't run away. No matter when will destiny come squarely in your way, it will choose the moment when you don't count on it. It can break or fuse families, friendships, but it is always hiding. Just when you think that it let you to have a blink on it, in the next moment you have to realize that it is farther than you think.

* * *

Sylar wasn't happy when he saw the results of his work. There were only two paintings in front of him. In the first, he saw Bennet and Claire sitting somewhere and having a conversation. In the second, there were two figures, too: Peter Petrelli and Suresh arguing with each other.


	13. Chapter 13: Under pressure

**Chapter 13: Under pressure**

Micah felt quite confused. He was happy, really happy that he was with Niki again. His mother came back from death and this made him feel confident. But for some reason, he couldn't rejoice over it totally. He thought that the change was too quick, but soon he realized that this wasn't the only problem. Niki was driving much faster than she used to. They were already in Las Vegas, when his doubts burst out.

"Why are we running, Mom?"

"We?" asked Niki back. She looked a bit confused as well. "We're not running. I just want to see our home again." With his right hand, he softly touched Micah's arm. "Everything will be just as normal as possible it is."

"You're lying." he said harshly.

She took a deep breath.

"There will be danger there. Soon, it will look like it suffered another hurricane."

"And you're running away? With all your powers? You should be hurrying there, trying to stop it."

"I can't..."

"Why?" he shouted.

"Because I can't stop bullets, Micah. Death missed me by an inch and don't want to face it again, without any..." She suddenly turned silent.

Micah looked in front of the car. So far, he haven't realized that they turned into the street of their home. And he wasn't happy about what he saw.

"That's our house." he murmured. And the house was surrounded by many firefighters and their cars. They couldn't see too much more because of the smoke but they were sure that a tragedy had happened there.

Niki slowly stopped and parked the car. Then, she subsided on the steering wheel and began to cry. Now, Micah touched his mother softly.

"I can fix it." he whispered. "I can get us money." But that didn't help her.

* * *

Waiting again, thought Matt. He was just staying and waiting around Ridgway Jewelry for more than one day and he was getting impatient. Although he hasn't seen the jeweler who was cooperating with Malsky's assassin, the place was quite scary for him. He tried to read the people's mind around him without raising any suspicion but it was useless. No one knew anything about his wife or the kidnapping. They were just busy, frightened, worrying about their business, their money. No one knew that Matt was there for something much more important. After many new hours of useless waiting, he decided to have lunch. After all, he couldn't feed himself with diamonds.

He was walking down the avenue, looking for a restaurant, when the public phone beside him suddenly rang. He looked around: no one was around him as this district wasn't one of the most crowded ones. He stepped in and picked it up.

"Matt Parkman." hissed a high, boy-like voice. "We have your wife."

"Hey." he interrupted. "I want proof. Prove me that she is alive."

"One question." he hissed.

There was a short pause then Matt heard Janice's soft voice.

"Matt? Are you there?" she whispered.

"What was I doing when you told me that you were pregnant?" he asked quickly.

There was another short pause. He could almost see Janice thinking about why did she get this question.

"You were mending the pipes."

Matt took a deep sigh.

"Your task is pretty simple." began the boy again. "Find out where Primatech is."

Matt was very surprised about this question. He expected money or something more valuable than this. But, if they knew Primatech, they could have been pretty much in the whole mess.

"It's in Hartsdale." he answered.

"Misfired." hissed the voice. "The Company was moved. I want to know where. You have as much time as you want. But I would hurry, for your wife's sake."

"Hey! Wait!" shouted Matt. "Why do you want to know it? I might help you."

But there was no answer.

* * *

Claire and Noah Bennet had a busy night, so there was no wonder that Claire overslept the whole trip back to their home. Noah was wondering. He tried to remember when was the last time she was sleeping so peacefully, such like a small child, her head on his shoulders. They left Nicholas behind, Noah let him run and they got in a company car. Noah didn't know if Nicholas will stay here, around Claire but for this moment, he didn't care about him. Father and daughter, they were together. Just before they reached their home, his cell phone rang. He was wondering who could call him so early in the morning, since it was about 7 o'clock. He had to realize that it was Bob.

"What's it?" he asked but he felt that Claire hugged him.

"How about going on a business trip again?" Noah suddenly felt the hug vanishing in one moment.

"You told me there will be no more." he hissed.

"For a while. But circumstances have changed. And things aren't getting better. The Haitian was captured on his last mission and you do know his importance."

"And what about Claire's importance now, Bob?" he argued.

"This wasn't our agreement." he said as he raised his voice. "And speaking of her, could you give the phone to her?"

"After all that happened tonight?" asked Noah.

"After that. Give me Claire."

He didn't know any better. He looked at Claire, looked in her eyes, her face that told him she was so innocent and distracted. And she will now feel betrayed again and he had no one to blame for that except himself. He was wondering about his new partner. Who will it be? He knew most of them from the last years, but he couldn't imagine any of them on his side. The phone beeped as Claire put it down. She was still staring at it.

"Dad!" she whispered.

"What's the matter, Claire?"

"We're partners." Noah thought he could blow the whole car up with his anger.

* * *

Monica simply stared out of Suresh's car without even one word, for a while. She didn't know where they were heading. She didn't even know where they were, actually. After she was brought in, the world seemed to have turned inside out for her. Unknown places, unknown people. She knew she didn't want this. And she felt she didn't have the right to talk or suggest anything. The time when she just wanted to be someone more than a girl from the ghetto seemed if it was ages ago. For her, fate has proven that she was not a good leader. She was so passionate that she didn't listen to the word of thinking. She thought she could be disturbed, taken. And now, despite all of her tries, she was. None of them spoke until she became so amused because of the sunset over the prairie that her question rose to her lips without her notice.

"Where are we? And where are we going?" she asked quietly.

Mohinder didn't say a word but his deep breath told everything.

"I'm just following the way."

For a short time, silence fell.

"What does that mean?" asked Monica.

"My home is in the East. So I'm heading there."

"Is that so simple?" she asked.

Mohinder sighed. Monica noticed that Kamala touched her shoulder, probably trying to answer before he does but she couldn't."

"No it's not that." he said slowly. "I don't know why did I choose this. And this annoys me. All I know is that we must stay on the road, constantly moving. If we stop, they'll find us and come for us. I'm tending to let both of you go, going back and taking Molly. If she's with me, the hunt might end." Another deep sigh. "We're in the western region of Texas."

Suddenly, Monica felt like she was saved. She interrupted Suresh.

"So, we're in Texas and going to the East, right? So we're heading to Louisiana?" she asked and confidence and happiness could be easily felt in her voice. And she really just wanted to get back to her family.

"Yes, you're right." answered Suresh.

"I'm near home!" she almost shouted this sentence. "You could drop me off here. If I'm with family, I won't be in trouble.

Nobody answered so she asked.

"Can that be an option?" she asked loudly.

"Yes." answered Mohinder, much more quietly.

She turned to Kamala (although she didn't really care about her opinion) but it seemed she managed to fall asleep. Shortly, they reached a town, and, beside a single street lamp, Mohinder stepped into the breaks that made all of them wake up. He saw a familiar face.

* * *

Maya didn't have the time and the opportunity to learn much from Ann, so she turned to the tales and spirits of her childhood, her memories. She was trying not the get overrun by all of her demons, but in the seemingly abandoned apartment of Reginald Rios, she couldn't do much more. At nights, she looked around his books, read all of the papers she could find, looking at the photo of the hated man, who killed her partner. She was a bit surprised because of her contact to Ann, because they didn't know each other really. Sometimes, she thought about this, mostly during her prays that became severe in this situation, and she thought this was because she had killed so many people before, and had to value life, especially without her brother. There was no way back, she was the one destined to stop this.

During daytime, she tried to turn outside, not to play hide and seek with all of her fears. She checked all of the morgues she had managed to find, but she couldn't find any sign of Rios. She walked through the streets, trying to get familiar with the places her enemy had known. Many days have gone away, without anything extraordinary. As she walked back to the apartment a night, she found a collapsed figure in front of the door. She suddenly became terrified, she thought she found one of his victims, but as he touched the man, he moved. Slowly,he looked up on her and raised his hand.

"_Please_"he rattled _"help me, senorita. Take this pendant from me. 200 boliviano. Senorita! Help me!_" His voice was very weak as he moved his hand towards his neck and picked a seemingly gold pendant, with the shape of the sun.

Maya was totally confused. She didn't except him to do this. She expected him to collapse, maybe to die, or to attack her, looking for a weak prey, like several people. Like their smugglers who were killed miles away.

"_Senorita!__ This is my last treasure. It'll protect you from your enemies. Please, a shaman have this to me, down in Machu Picchu."_

"_I don't know what prize does it have." _stammered Maya. "_And I don't have any boliviano." _said she, trying to remember the name of the currency.

"_It'll bring fortune to you..." _he rattled.

Just like it did to you, thought Maya. But he wore it around neck, just like she wore the cross, so it might be important to him. He was desperate and afraid. Just like she was a few months ago. And as she remembered to herself in the past, she took a hundred dollars, gave it to him and took the pendant. She knew, that this money might be his last chance. And most of the people do deserve a second chance.

* * *

Bob stepped back because of the shock. As he was trying to get into his new office in New Mexico, he suddenly someone he didn't expect. Nathan Petrelli was standing beside his desk, looking at some of his papers.

"How did you get here?" asked Bob.

"You've left the window open. You can guess." answered Nathan with a calm, soft voice. For a few moments, he didn't spoke so Bob decided to ask a more urgent question.

"And what do you want from me?"

"I want to know what game are you playing with me. My mother's murdered, I had been shot before and Peter attacked and left me. What is this, Bob?"

"I don't know anything about Peter..."

"Then do!" he shouted. "He might be the most important for all of us."

"I'm not used to mess up family issues..."

"Speaking about those, what's the matter with her?" He showed the file he was reading: Elle's one. "It says, she's disappeared and you don't know from where did she phone you. That's not ordinary, Bob. Someone's after us."

Bob took a deep sigh.

"I suppose you didn't know that the idea of Primatech came from your parents. Angela was working for the CIA during the cold war, and from one of her missions she brought really bad news. She found a special individual on the other side. Even with her abilities, this made her afraid. We decided to deal with the question. At that time, there were only five of us and Victoria couldn't come with us since she didn't have an ability. There were your parents, Linderman and me."

"We've found this individual and killed him. We made it look like a robbery – took some of the jewelry and then we demolished the house. But Linderman found something much more interesting. A family photo with the child of this man. We looked for him but we haven't found any sign of his life, so we let it go. Until your assassination. A few days after it, she came to me and told me that she had spoken with Nicolai, and asked me to find him. The problem is, that he's very good at hiding."

"Why couldn't you let him go like so many years before?" asked Nathan.

"Because he confessed. He told your mother that he shot you and I suppose that he's the one responsible of Angela's murder."

"That's why we have to find Peter. He might go after him."

"He can protect himself..."

"And what about me?" he interrupted.

"In the given situation, it was safer to tell the public that you're dead, to make Nicolai forget you."

"So you've sacrificed my mother for me, didn't you?" he shouted. "And for what? I'm just an agent of you, I can't make a difference in the world. That's what Peter's case taught me."

"No that's not what it did. It taught that you can..."

"Shut up!" shouted Nathan so loud that it made Bob going silent. "You thought you have given my life back. Instead, you played a huge part in taking it." He rushed to the window and before Bob could stop him, he jumped out. But he knew that Nathan didn't die.

* * *

"Have you found anything?" asked Ando from Wang but she didn't answer. She was in some kind of a trance, staring at her microscope. Ando was getting bored. Since he couldn't do anything with his hand, he was forced to hide, to sit and wait, and to see Hiro's impatient mood. He wanted some results form the doctor's tests but there weren't any. He was about losing his faith in her. But Ando remained beside her, because he knew that if she finds something, it will change the world. He knew it and even told it to his friend, but he was desperate to hear the doctor's words. Slowly, she took another sample of Hiro's blood and put down Ando's one.

Suddenly, she took a deep but short breath. He knew that she was surprised.

"Have you found anything?" he asked again.

"I might have done." she answered, for the first time. She stood up form her microscope and picked Hiro's blood out of it.

"In this sample, there are the white cells of your friend's blood. They are different from yours."

"You've find the reason?" Ando interrupted hastily.

"No." she answered sadly. "I can only make two consequences from the result. Since the mutation is in the white cells, I suppose that these abilities are simply a new kind immune reaction."

"So it's just luck?" asked Ando.

"I wouldn't consider it luck. I would consider it as evolution. But there's more than this. If the white cells mutate, the ordinary reaction is cancer. But this doesn't look like it. It modifies the whole body. This situation take a long time for cancer. This looks more like virus, spreading so quickly that it modifies the whole body in minutes."

Ando just looked amused. He didn't really understand the meaning of the words. She continued on with a faint smile.

"If Suresh was here, he would be totally upset because my guess was right."

* * *

Marie stepped in confidently. She didn't want to expose her fear. As the door opened, Gabriel almost jumped towards her, waiting for information.

"Is Matt Parkman here?" he asked.

"No, he 's out of town. They think he's in LA, but he disappeared there. But might I have something more interesting for you."

"What?" he was slowly getting angry and thought about if she was trustworthy.

"I think I recognized the building on the third picture."

"You did?" asked Sylar.

"Yeah, but please, tell me something about you."

He decided not to expose himself, although he didn't really believe that she could overcome him with the waitress's supreme memory on his side. He just remained in silence and listened. Her heart was beating like a hard rock band's drum. He nodded.

"You have some abilities. You might be a very powerful one them. What do you think about ethics?"

"Do you want to hear if I consider myself an overman?"

"I just want to know your opinion. Think about it, who would believe me if I told them you were more than anybody? That you're special? But I want to hear about this topic from someone who

really is special."

"You've read the book. It's evolution. Evolution does not know ethics. It's... no, we are a radical change of paradigms. Extreme times are ahead of us and extreme circumstances will come. We must answer it. In the best way we can. Now tell me about that building."

She ran into her room and she came back in a second, with a book in her hands. It was Nietzsche's one again.

"Can you fly us to Moscow? I think it's the Kremlin." And surprisingly, in one moment, she hugged him.

* * *

Mohinder looked like he saw a ghost or something even worse. And he was about that. During driving on the main street of Odessa, he suddenly saw Peter Petrelli under a light, just sitting still, looking really desperate. He stopped the car as quickly as he could.

"Peter!" he shouted. "What's the matter?"

He looked up slowly, his face was messy, and he looked like he had been crying for hours.

"Mohinder! What are you doing here?" he asked.

"That doesn't matter." he answered hastily. "And you? In the middle of nowhere?"

"You should know that it's not the middle of nowhere. And, in fact, I would rather be in the middle of nowhere than here." He took a deep sigh, and suddenly burst out before Mohinder could answer. "My abilities! They don't... they don't work!"

"Peter, slow down! What are you talking about?"

"I can't control my abilities. I attacked my brother, and I didn't want to. And then, I fled and I don't know how did I end up here."

"Peter, your abilities are not out of control. You are out of it."

"But why?" screamed Peter.

Mohinder stood there, he began to think but he didn't know if he could give him some advice.

"What happened to you? Since your ability is connected with your emotions, if you had an emotional shock, it might have an effect on your abilities..."

"Emotional shock? My mother had lied to me during her whole life and I couldn't even speak with her because someone killed her. Do you call this an emotional shock?!"

Suddenly, something happened. Peter could sense that someone else was there and he thought his mind was being read. He thought about Suresh could replace Claude Rains, if anyone can teach him to control this kind of mess, to make him regain control again. Over himself.

"You..." a woman screamed behind them. "You know about him."

Both of them turned back, just to see Kamala. She was collapsing and Monica could hardly hold her.

"Know about who?" asked Mohinder and Peter, just at the same time.

No answer came, so Peter stepped closer and started to read her mind. He knew she was thinking about Claude, too.

"What do you know about him?" he shouted.

"Peter!" said Mohinder, but he pushed him back with one slap. He saw the girl, Claude and another man, probably Indian, too. They were standing in front of a cathedral or something.

"Please!" she stammered. "They have protected me. Don't expose them."

"You were reading my mind." he shouted. "Why? And how do you know him? What did he do for you? And when?"

"Peter!" shouted Mohinder again. "Your hands."

He looked at his hands. They were burning in radiation, just like before Kirby Plaza, even burning his clothes down. How could this be again? Is it his destiny to blow up a city? He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate.

And in the next moment, he disappeared.

* * *

Using his ability and the shades of the night, Nathan flew back home as fast as he could. He didn't want to be noticed but all of the doors and windows were locked so he had to break one. He was so confused, having to break in his own apartment. He looked around in all of the rooms, his brain stormed with memories. He walked down to the dining room, remembered the moment when he told his father that he had decided to run for congress. And so many moments, just passed on and gone away. He won't leave any mark in time. He'll not be powerful one he could have been. And he has lost Peter, too. He didn't wanted to say in front of him, but he could have said many times, how important he was for Nathan. But his father would have considered it as a weakness.

Suddenly, his cell phone rang. He couldn't imagine anybody using this number except Peter but it was another voice that he was hearing on the phone.

"Nathan. I'm Matt Parkman. I need your help. I must know where the Primatech Headquarters are right now..."

Hearing the Company's name, he suddenly became so angry that he threw away his phone and it broke apart.

* * *

After Noah and Claire have boarded Noah received a cell phone call but she hasn't heard one single word out of it so after the conversation she decided to ask her father what's the situation they were facing.

"What do we have to do? Where are we heading exactly?" she asked.

"For a business trip, rest of the family sitting in Nevada well protected." Noah answered ironically. "We're going to some place I would never wanted to see again. We're going to Moscow."

"Moscow? Why?"

"Because the Haitian disappeared, on a mission."

"Our job is to get him back?"

Noah nodded curtly.

"Cool." she said. "Do you speak Russian?"

Another nod.

"Could you teach me?"

"Claire, you have to understand that taking you with me on this trip is against my will. I would have rather brought someone else."

"Why?" she shouted.

"You've seen what Elle has become."

"But Dad, I'm not her."

"I just don't want to show you how awful place the world can be. I don't want to show you what they can do and what they can make out of this beautiful planet."

"Dad, I'm almost eighteen and I can't get hurt." she whispered "Finding a better partner than me would have been a difficult task. Mom and Lyle are not in danger. I'm the only one bringing trouble and you can handle it."

Noah took a deep breath and paused for a few seconds.

"I hope this opinion of yours won't change too soon."

* * *

"As I hear, Doctor, your results are very promising..." stated Bob, after he called Wang into his office.

"Promising but far from total."

He laughed faintly.

"I know that you're always reaching for the stars. You told me that you need something. Can I know what that would be?"

"I need a villain."

"Why?"

"I need to kill someone. Someone of us." she stated as Bob's face fell.

"Doctor, I gave you money and support. I gave you the freedom you wanted. I really don't understand in what kind of ways do you want to develop the research."

"I need to kill someone with abilities so I could see how the new ability affects my DNA. I have to replicate what Sylar is doing."

"So, there isn't another option." said Bob with a bitter voice.

"Unless you bring Sylar here."

* * *

In the moment Peter had disappeared, Kamala blacked out, too and none of the two could wake her up, so they just pulled her to the back seats of the car. Naturally they checked if she was alive and she was definitely breathing, just knocked out simply. Mohinder decided not to waste more time here.

"Who was this?" asked Monica.

"A former friend of mine." answered Mohinder.

"What did he do with her?"

"I don't know. I think he was trying to read her mind. And she tried to fight it."

"Reading her mind? That sounds quite aggressive."

"Oh, he's not a bad man at all. Powerful, yeah, but he's one of the good guys. He just found something that should have lied deep and wasn't able to take a good hold of it, I think."

Just like I did, thought Monica.

* * *

The night's shadows covered Peter up so nobody noticed him appearing beside a small house in a town he didn't know. He needed a few seconds to stop his ability and even with this speed, he almost ignited the flat that was made out of wood. He thought about some place he could sleep and buy some clothes as the most of his shirt and some parts of his jeans were burned down in the radiation. After a few minutes of searching, he found an inn, named the Black Mustang. Luckily, there were about five guests and a barkeeper in the hall of the inn. He right stepped to the barkeep, and tried to begin what he needed when someone with a strange accent, called his name.

"Peter! Peter Petrelli!"


	14. Chapter 14: May peace guide you

**Chapter 14: May peace guide you**

After a few minutes of searching, he found an inn, named the Black Mustang. Luckily, there were about five guests and a barkeeper in the hall of the inn. He right stepped to the barkeep, and tried to begin what he needed when someone with a strange accent, called his name.

"Peter! Peter Petrelli!"

He turned back and saw that one of the guests was waving his hand towards him. He had brown eyes, short brown hair, was wearing a dark leather jacket and in front of him, there was a small jug standing. With his abilities, Peter didn't see any danger in him so he decided to ask if they know each other.

"Well, actually, you might not know me" he answered "but I'm a friend of your family." The strange, probably Russian accident continued on as he was talking and it started to make Peter a bit nervous. But as he heard the word, he couldn't help smiling grimly. The man asked of it.

"I didn't knew if they had any friends really. I suppose the word client is more suitable. And what are you doing here, friend, in the middle of nowhere?" he asked, and he said that expression strangely similar like he had said it just a few minutes before, to Mohinder, another friend of his.

"This is not the middle of nowhere, Peter. We're in the small town of Mound in Minnesota. And in fact, there are many, many woods around this town. Now, if you want to call something that way, you should call those." He drank a bit of his coffee. "I like the coffee of this place but actually, I haven't come here because of that. I came here because I knew you would be here."

Peter's face fell. This simple sentence was so unbelievable that he had to believe it.

"How? Why?" he stammered. "And who you are, exactly, friend?"

"Calm down, Peter, I don't want you to blow up anything accidentally." But this just made him more angry.

"My name is Nicolai." he whispered. "And I'm here because a friend of mine who can see some extraordinary things told me that you would come here tonight. And, for the second question, I would really like to offer you something."

"What could you offer me?" he asked. "How do you know what do I need?" Nicolai became more and more annoying to him so he decided to simply teleport away, like he should have done long before. He closed his eyes, thought about his home, the mansion. And when he opened it, he was still sitting in the bar.

"Peter, you must see this." whispered Nicolai.

"I gotta call someone." he stammered.

"Please. Anything or anyone can wait."

"You must know that if you want to offer me something, there is a person I can't decide without." He realized that he can't go away so he decided to go with this man. Maybe he can meet his future-seeing friend and ask something about himself and the malfunction of his abilities.

"I'll respect your opinion. Really. Can we go?"

Peter nodded and Nicolai led him to his car.

* * *

Naturally, Mohinder didn't sleep well. He was always thinking about Molly and about the three of them. What kind of force drove them together? They were fugitives but he didn't know from what were they running from. And where to. He was also afraid. Afraid of what could happen if they get caught. The two girls were two of them, and he didn't know what could the Company do with them, even if they wanted to inject Monica for almost nothing with a virus that have hardly had any chance to be more useful than the former strain was. And what would happen to him? It was the second time he decided not to follow the clear orders he had been given. And this time, he attacked and harmed someone.

Suddenly, his phone rang. He got up slowly, he tried to pretend that he had been sleeping.

"Mohinder, I need your help." It was Matt's voice.

"What's the matter?" he asked and he took the car's keys out of his pocket.

"My ex-wife is in danger and I'm afraid you're the only one I can call." He took a deep breath. "I need to know where the Primatech Headquarters are."

"What's the connection?" asked Mohinder, confused.

"Listen, somebody kidnapped Janice, and she is pregnant, and then, somebody called me and asked the whereabouts of Primatech as a price for her life."

"I would kindly suggest you not to tell them anything. God knows what might happen..."

"And God knows what might happen if I don't tell them anything!" he screamed. "It's my wife not yours."

Mohinder turned back and looked at Kamala. She was still sleeping on the back seats.

"It's in Albuquerque. New Mexico."

"Thank you, Mohinder." sighed Matt.

"Just stay as far as you can from that place." he whispered and put the phone down.

* * *

Sylar was impatient. He had to trust Marie but somehow he did. He brought both of them to Moscow, to the end of the world and it was just a slight chance that she was right and Claire Bennet was in this town. But there was a slight chance and surprisingly, he wasn't worrying. First of all, they rented two small rooms in a motel, nearest to the sought building.

"So, what shall we do now?" he asked, trying to hide his real emotions.

"I think we should take a closer look at it."

"Do you think he will show up?"

"If you did paint the future, he will, won't he?"

Sylar smiled and nodded. And in the moment he will have Bennet, he will have Claire and he will have a life without any kind of pain.

"May I ask you something?" asked Marie. For a good measure, he listened to her heart for a moment. It was beating fast again. He nodded. If he doesn't want to answer, he won't.

"Is he special, too?"

"Like me?" he asked back. She nodded as an answer.

"No, he's not." In fact, he knew in what kind was Bennet special but he was no match for him. Definitely not.

* * *

Niki looked like she was torn apart, after she saw their house totally demolished. She got back in the car, called Micah there and started to drive. She only had to make a few turns to make her son realize where they were heading to. After a few minutes of wordless driving, she stopped the car at the Catholic Cemetery, where D.L. was lying. Just like before, they walked to the grave without any word. She knelt down. Micah was still standing, but tears have appeared in his eyes, too.

"Save me, baby." she whispered to the marble tombstone. "I'm not able save us. You were the hero from the two of us."

"Mom." Micah whispered. "I can help us. I can get us money. I did and I will do it again, if we need it. I don't want you to sink in debts again."

She looked at him and burst out into tears. "You're the best son anyone could have. But I can't put all my responsibilities on you."

"Just a few." he answered.

She turned her face back to the grave.

"I still miss him." she said faintly.

"I do, too."

Suddenly, a soft voice disturbed them. It was Niki's phone. She's just received a message, telling her to be at the Crimo's Café in two hours. She didn't know who sent this message to her and she didn't really wanted to. She only wanted to know why did she get this and to learn that she had to go there.

* * *

Maya was about to feel really strange. She had lived almost all of her life in Latin-America, he even sought refuge in the continent, in the arms of the Catholic church, but she haven't found any. She was looking for answers since her ability has manifested and therefore she traveled to the United States. She thought that she would fit in there but she was sent back to the land she was running away from. And, so strangely, in the abandoned mansion of Reginald Rios, she felt like she had found something desired, something like home. As she was strolling down to the mansion, she saw the homeless man again, the one who gave her the necklace. He waved his hand towards him but he was on the ground. She ran to him, thinking there was something trouble.

"_Hola, Senorita." _he called as she nearly reached him. As Maya looked at him, he saw that most of his clothes were less dirty than the former ones, and the gate was opened.

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_I want to introduce you to somebody. To a very generous man. A real hero."_

He went towards the house like he was at home.

"_Why are you walking in?" _she asked.

"_The Senor let me in. He had keys."_

This raised Maya's suspicion.

"_Who is this Senor?"_

"_I don't know really..." _he answered as he opened the front door.

And she saw her demon, Reginald Rios, sitting inside the house.

"_Run!_" she shouted. _"This man's a killer."_

"_He knows that. I had to tell him." _Rios interrupted her.

Maya's face fell. She remembered the first time she had met Suresh and learned the true nature of Sylar. She could now imagine what the doctor's feelings were. And she was almost helpless, she didn't trust her control enough to use her ability.

"_I don't want to hurt you, Senorita." _stated Rios. "_I know you're like me."_

"_You killed my friend." _stammered Maya.

"_I had to." _stated he coldly. Yet she saw something in his eyes. Remorse, maybe. But she couldn't really believe that.

"_You don't know" _he began "_what's happening in this country. I've been part of an organization fighting for the liberty of this country."_

"_Why?" _she asked, almost crying.

"_He wasn't anyone of us. You know Latin-America and she was foreign. And speaking about you, you're also wanted because of murder."_

"_You meant to kill her. That's the difference between us. She was human, like you and me."_

"_She shouldn't have been dragged into this. And, speaking about who have meant what, can you imagine how many important woman had I killed, accidentally?" _He looked at her and saw real remorse.

"_I'm not proud of my ability._" he whispered. "_I keep it hidden and that's the reason I'm alive. And moreover, I have an offer to you."_

"_What offer?" _she asked angrily.

"_Some things you might consider. Home. Purpose. A view of a better world."_

"_In what kind?"_

"_Where you'll never be hurt just because you're not like anyone else."_

* * *

"I can't read the names of the streets." said Claire, looking at the table on the wall of a huge block of houses.

"It says Gorky Street 33." said Noah harshly and opened the gate.

"What's the next step?" asked Claire, feeling excited.

"I have to meet some of my former acquaintances. I don't have many of them here, actually, and I don't want to put my hand into a bee nest so early."

"Why do say so early?"

"Sooner or later, it'll come. Therefore, we'll start training soon."

Honestly, Claire didn't want to know much about the training. She wanted action. She wanted to show her father how tough she was. But another question came into her mind.

"Dad, when have you met the invisible man?"

"Years ago. Before you were even born."

"Is it true that he brought me out of the fire?"

He looked in her eyes.

"I was the one bringing you out but yes, he helped me. We were partners then."

"Do you know about anything his former partner?"

"He quit." answered Noah harshly. "That's all I know."

Claire gulped.

"So they didn't tell the truth even to you." she whispered. Noah looked at her again. "The invisible man said that he was killed. Just like you." she added.

* * *

"What's this?" asked Monica, looking out of the car to the streets of New Orleans. She remembered what the town was look like after Katrina but sometimes, the present situation looked even worse. Most of the houses, particularly the ones on the corners were full of tags, signs of the gangs. The walls f some houses were partially burned and many windows were broken. It looked like a ghost town.

"What happened here?" she asked, both from herself and from Mohinder.

"It looks like an army had been marching here." he murmured.

"Where's the..." She was trying to refer to the police but a faint sound of breaking glass interrupted her. Surprised and afraid, Mohinder turned the steering wheel just by instinct. The breaks were creaking and slowly, the car stopped in the middle of the road.

"Is anybody hurt?" he asked.

"No." answered Monica and Kamala almost at the same time. They were lying down in the car, and were hoping that nobody armed will see them. After a few seconds they heard some voices getting closer to the car.

"Wat wuz this, homie? That ain't police or some other shit."

"They might have some money."

"What can yo do with money? There ain't a store open."

"Yeah, but people are greedy. Maybe it can get some dudes off of our back."

"Man, are these people still here?"

"Sure, homie. They don' have guts or brains if they're riding here."

A few seconds of silence and they could even hear the gangsters' breathing.

"Fuck, homie!" one of them shouted. "Those nuts Lay-Me-Os there."

Probably another car was coming towards them and lots of gunshots were fired, with the threesome still hiding in the car. A few bullets also hit the car, even the windows but nobody was hit and they managed not jump out, into the chaos outside.

The car's voice was moving getting more and more silent and after about a minute Mohinder decided to look for any signs of life. He didn't found any and called the girls out. They were only surrounded by three corpses, all dead by guns.

"You don't have to stay here." whispered Monica, staring at the dead. "It's my home and it's my family. Go wherever you want."

"We can bring you home." offered Mohinder. "No. You've already taken too much risk for me. Now, it's my time to wrap something up and I must do it alone. Take care of your own business, I'll take care of mine."

"Are you sure?" asked Kamala. Monica simply nodded.

"Farewell, then. May peace guide you." said she.

* * *

It was hard to persuade Micah not to go with Niki to the café but after many quarrels she managed to do that. She didn't know what danger she was going in and it was hard to confess, even for herself but she almost desired some of it, to see if Jessica and all the others were really gone and she didn't want Micah to be close.

Just as she arrived to the outdoor terrace of the café and tried to sit down a man stepped to her. He was as tall as Niki and was looking like a rock star poser with his sunglasses, piercings around his eyebrows and his nose, his leather jacket and long hair.

"May I invite you for something, Miss Sanders?" he asked and put his hand on the chair in front of her.

"Save your breath. Who are you and why are you sending messages to me?"

"My name is Michael Lazarus. And I' someone like you."

"What do you mean?" she asked angrily.

"Please, calm down. I don't want this place demolished." He slowly moved away from her, taking a seat on the other side of the table.

"I wouldn't care about the place if I were you." she hissed. "What happened to my house?"

"If I were you, I wouldn't care about the house. I have much more interesting things to talk about."

"For example?"

"For example, you. You survived a tragic accident, I guess. And you're in a good trim. In fact, I've heard that you're feeling better than ever."

"And why is that so interesting?"

"Life is full of ups and downs, Miss Sanders. You're moving up well but sometimes you might slide down. And I want to help you."

"By what? I haven't heard anything from you except meaningless words."

"The world"s heading to a change. A drastic one. And I want to protect you."

"How would you think that?"

"Keeping you safe until you don't have to hide anything."

"What do I have to hide?"

"You. And your son. You might become the leaders of the change."

Bringing Micah in the conversation really made Niki angry. Now, when they've made peace with their abilities, a guy jumps into their life, trying to mess it up again. She tried to catch his neck and grab it and break it but he moved fast. He jumped backwards and grabbed the chair he was sitting on. Niki didn't hesitate for a moment, she grabbed the table with both of her hands and pushed it towards him. He also pushed the chair, now burning in flames. The two objects collided and made each other stop. Some of the people around them jumped up, screaming. Lazarus jumped to another table, put his hand on it and it was also in flames.

"Pick up that one, Niki!" he shouted.

She rushed to the café's wooden wall and broke a part out of it. She threw it towards him and she did injured him on his shoulder so he collapsed. She walked to him, still lying on the pavement. She knelt down and put her hands on his neck.

"What are your last words, Michael?" she hissed.

"Bills hurt." With these words, he pulled out a bit of paper from his pocket and before she could act he put it to Niki's neck, burning at that time. She caught to her neck and stunned by the pain he released Lazarus. He jumped up and ran away. Niki was writhing in pain. Her neck was really well burnt and she felt herself to weak to go after him.

* * *

Matt was thinking hours long. At last, he knew where the Company was but how did the mysterious kidnapper know that. He was worried. He didn't know a number, he didn't know anything. Not a single man to meet, to get inside his head and solve everything he wanted.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

"Do you have anything, Mr. Parkman?" asked the hissing voice.

"I do. Where's my wife?" he asked hastily.

"Remember, your wife's life is in my hand. If you try to fake us, it'll backfire on her."

"I know what you need. Are you interested?"

"Get to the County Hospital. I'll phone you then and be more exact. And I expect this from you, too."

* * *

"So you've found something in my blood." stated Hiro. "And how will that save the world?"

"I don't know if it will save it." answered Wang. "We haven't heard about any kind of virus you have mentioned. But this vial, your blood within may be the first step to change our world forever."

"How?"

"We know a tiny bit about the causes of these abilities we have. If my research develops, we might have something that can reverse these abilities. Or even make them manifest."

"But can we decide who's worthy for abilities and who's not?"

Wang just stared at him, looking deep in his eyes if she was trying to read his mind.

"We are not Gods. And we should not be."

"Everything I've ever made, I've made it to help people. Ethics, what you are speaking about, are beyond my science."

Ando opened the door and stepped in the room.

"_Hiro! You have a message. You must see it."_

He nodded. Ando led him to another room with only one computer. In the monitor, there was Kimiko looking at them, in front of a dark background, the message paused. Ando clicked to start it.

"_This message is for Hiro Nakamura and only for himself. I am a prisoner of a Yakuza clan, called the Toraga family. The clan wants 50 Millions of Yen as a price for me. Hiro Nakamura is the only person with the permission to start a huge transaction like this. You have three days and no more."_

The message ended and the monitor was empty.

"_I have as many time as I want. I must rescue her. Will you come with me, Ando?"_

Ando bowed.

_I'm sorry, Hiro. I was proven not to be strong enough. At the moment, this is the only place where I feel myself useful. You can beat up any Yakuza clan without me as well. You know it's the man, not the sword. And still you are the one ready."_

"_So many I've destroyed." _whispered Hiro. And he disappeared.

* * *

"Do you know anything about the history of this magnificent monument?" asked Marie, from Sylar as they were strolling down to the Kremlin. Although it wasn't even winter, it was very cold and the streets were fully covered with snow.

"I'm not really interested in its history. I'm not really interested in its past. It's its future that brought me here. Are you?" he whispered.

"As a philosopher I should be familiar with both arts and history. Without history, we can't really understand our present and our future. And without a small sense of arts, we're almost computers. Don't you agree? Do you have a hobby?"

Sylar stopped for a second. Her questions were so annoying but maybe this gave them a charm. He almost admired her. He thought she was really open for the change and maybe understood a tiny bit of the real meaning, the grandiosity of the things happening with them. And she was cunning, she wanted to understand. Similarly to him, just in another way.

"I fix watches."

"Really? How did that came?"

"It's a long story and we have something else to do." he sighed.

Marie understood that this was the end of this conversation. They sat down on the square and were looking for Bennet to come.

* * *

Noah was shocked from what he saw. Shortly after they've arrived to Moscow, he arranged a meeting with one of Ivan's former employees and he suggested to meet at the service entrance of the Kremlin Museum. Just as he was heading there, he saw someone too familiar, sitting neat the gigantic building. It took a short time for him to realize who it really was and much more to believe his eyes.

He saw Sylar in Moscow, in the same town Claire was. He thought that this simply couldn't be a coincidence. Although it was very cold, a drop of sweat appeared on his forehead. It was another game now, parallel to the mission. It was a possibly mortal hide and seek.

* * *

Nicolai drew them to a block of flats and led Peter to a flat on the sixth floor. For a moment, he stopped and looked like he was thinking if he should open the door.

"What's in there?" asked Peter.

"Our past and our future. You're the fourth person on the world who will see this."

The door opened with a soft click. There wasn't any furniture in the room. It only contained strings of different colors, with bits of paper on them, some of them going together for a few inches and some disappearing. Amused, Peter turned back to Nicolai.

"What do you know about it?"

"A few things."

* * *

The human nature is a complex system, almost impossible to understand. There are many questions in all of us? Does God exist? If yes, what's his will? Does peace belong to the image of him? Is this what he really wants? Or does war belong to our imperfect nature, and peace is just a temporary state just to fill in the time without war?


	15. Chapter 15: Full moon

**Chapter 15: Full moon**

The emptiness of impatience. During their seemingly endless watch, Sylar thought that the role of the sentinel was not designed for him. He was not a spider, carefully making his web and simply waiting for the prey to fall in it. He was a more active person, more like a shark. With one bite, with one simple move he could finish off his mark. If he had a mark to terminate but this time it wasn't in sight. They were sitting there for hours but there was no sign of Claire or Mr. Bennet. Slowly, both of them was starting to feel sleepy. Marie went away to buy them some coffee while Sylar stayed there, staring up to the sky, to the stars and the full moon like they could give them answers. He tried to remember the names of some stars but he hasn't read anything about them since he killed Charlie so it was useless. He looked down to the snowy streets but he turned back immediately. He thought the stars were moving. And they were. Slowly, they formed a picture, a picture with two people and a building in the background. The two men were himself and Peter Petrelli. And the building had towers, exactly like the building in front of him.

He tried to stand up and shout but he collapsed.

* * *

After the incident with Lazarus, Niki immediately called her son that she will go to a hospital and that they should meet there. Luckily, the burning paper just caused a surface wound on her and covering it was just enough. As she was coming out of the doctor's room she saw Micah, sitting on a chair. As he saw her, he jumped up, ran to her and hugged him strongly.

"I was so afraid." he whispered.

"It was more smoke than fire." she answered. The words rose to her lips without real consciousness but they made her think more. "And speaking about fires, I know who is responsible to our house's one." She told him what had happened at the café.

"Do you think it was his real name?" he asked.

"Why?" he stammered.

"Because I have an idea." He grabbed her hand and led her out. Outside, he looked around like he was looking for something. After about a second, he started running again and stopped in front of a public phone.

"Are you talking to machines again?" asked Niki.

"From this phone" he began to talk as he stepped inside "I can gain access to the center where all the calls are registered. If the name was real, I can identify him and maybe even get his address as well."

He put his hand on the phone and closed his eyes.

"Isn't this dangerous?" she asked but there was no answer. "Micah?" she asked again but he looked like he was in a trance. She moved her hand towards him but she didn't know what will happen if she touches him. Before she did that he moved.

"He lives at Mason Street." he said quickly.

"Isn't this dangerous, Micah? I was trying to ask that."

"No." answered Micah calmly. "Anyone from outside might think that I'm asleep because I'm like talking in a totally different language but mostly I don't need this. Just when it's big. And browsing through thousands of phone calls is big enough."

A tear appeared in one of Niki's eyes.

"I won't leave you." she stammered and held his hand in hers.

* * *

Matt got to the hospital as fast as he could. As he arrived, he looked around hastily. It was already night but there were some people, even without the nurses and the fact that he was among people gave him some confidence. A strange idea came to his mind. He stepped to one of the nurses, a small Asian girl.

"I'm here to see Janice Park... pardon, Janice Gardiner." said he, remembering her maiden name.

She nodded and looked at her computer.

"There's no one here with this name. Where should she be?"

Naturally, Matt didn't know the answer so he didn't say anything. Instead, he started reading the nurse's memories, looking for Janice's portrait. But he hasn't found anything. Suddenly, his phone rang and he picked up.

"Nice try, Mr. Parkman." As he heard these words, he looked around but he hasn't found any security cameras. "Tell me."

"How can I be sure that you tell me where can I find Janice?" he asked.

"You can't trust anything except my word. If this isn't enough for you, we both have been wasting our time for a while."

"Come and meet me." he said.

"Another nice try." the voice answered, ironically. "Choose. Tell me or lose her."

A pause came, no longer than a second but Matt felt it as like years.

"It's in Albuquerque."

The answer came in a second.

"She's in a private room, building M, first floor three."

Matt put down the phone immediately, asked about that room. The girl gave him a guide and he ran to the room. As he opened the door, he found her lying in bed, sleeping and a nurse with her.

"Visiting time's over." said the nurse, a white-haired, fat woman harshly.

Matt turned to her and suggested her to forget about this. He stayed with her for a while, and he was thinking. Now, he has found her but he was thinking about their future. What should be his next step? Someone took her and that person must pay. But he knew that he couldn't do this alone. He looked out, to the full moon, thinking who could he turn to. Suddenly, an owl appeared out of nowhere and landed in front of the window. And this gave Matt an idea. He walked down slowly and asked another nurse to move Janice to another hospital if possible.

"If you pay then it's your right to decide where she should be and moving isn't a threat for her." she answered. "Where to?"

"Albuquerque." answered Matt.

* * *

As Monica was strolling down, right towards the house she had lived in, she was wondering if this was the city she called home. She stopped at the restaurant where she had worked and saw that its windows were broken, most of the wall was tagged by various gang signs. She hasn't seen anybody, no people, no cars, no bikes, no girls playing at the school yard. The district was completely empty, like a ghost town. She was getting more and more afraid, and she felt strange. This town was like a terrorized town in the wild west, in the old times. A town that needed a hero. Can she be this hero, this savior?

Finally, she reached her their house and all of her fear and anger burst out into one cry. Their house was completely black, burned down, only some of the mainstays, the small parts of the walls, made of brick and the roof remained of it. It took a few minutes for her to stand up and to walk into the house. There was no door any more, so she could step in easily. The house inside was also burnt down, some of the girders fell but that wasn't an issue for her. She walked to the place where her room was, just to find out that anything she has lived for, she had collected and made was destroyed forever. She looked around, looking for her mother's piano. There was no sign of it. The sound of the thunder interrupted her. She had to realize that she didn't have anywhere to go. Except this place.

* * *

"Have you found anything?" asked Claire from her father. For a moment, he didn't answer just looked in her eyes, with his eyes like a predator's, when it knows it has found its prey.

"I made a few calls. I don't have much in my hands."

"Yet you do..." interrupted Claire.

"I got a name from one of my old clients. Akbar Denisov, former KGB agent. We know that he had worked with someone with abilities during the cold war."

"Sounds fun." said Claire, trying to look more courageous than she really was. The mention of the former soviet secret service filled her with fear, although she didn't know what she was afraid of. Maybe just the damned history books."

"So, are we going to catch him?" she asked.

"Actually, we won't." answered Noah. "I've arranged a meeting with him. But you might get a role, too."

"So what's going to happen, then?" she asked, curiously.

"We're going to use the hit'n'stay trick." he answered as he stepped to his suitcase.

"Isn't that hit'n'run?"

"No." he answered harshly, pulling a gun out of it. "Now, I'm going to tell you, what do you have to do."

* * *

Maya felt like she had left the control of her own body. This trap, made by Rios was so perfectly set and designed for her. She really felt shocked of it. She just sat in the nearest chair she had found, sinked in herself and dealing with her own thoughts. She didn't tell anybody but she had sworn to herself that she'll never hurt innocent people again. And how could Rios know that? She saw that he was not a telepath but then, he showed something mysterious, something similar to an ability to learn people's weaknesses or even their simplest moves, their very thoughts. She felt empty and worn-out. Rios began to speak with the man who led Maya in, about politics, guerillas, armies – Maya didn't really listened to the conversation. She began to sing some songs, not heard or sang long ago, that she had learned in her childhood.

Until she heard a door closing. She didn't even notice that the homeless man has just left and Rios was sitting just beside her. And still, she couldn't make a move, couldn't use his ability.

"_I'm going to tell you a story._" Rios began. "_I guess you're native too, just like me." He stopped for a moment, waiting for her to react but that didn't happen. "I wasn't born here in the city, and I have been living in constant repression for nearly all of my life, just because my skin is a bit darker than the so-called usual. My life wasn't extraordinary. I went to school, read lots of books when I wasn't working on the plantations, dreamed about many great things like freedom, and eventually, fell in love._"

He stopped again and sighed.

"_A short time before, I've felt that something was happening with me, like I could hear the wind, the river and the soil but I haven't dealt with it. I was busy with my studies and my plans to engage her. It was a wonderful full moon night, at the river but it turned terrible in one second. My ability manifested and she died in my arms. But something more happened to me. Though I thought that I was empty, useless and dangerous, I could hear the river's voice louder and louder. And now, I could talk to her, too and she let me to form her like I wanted. I thought I was mad, ran away and decided to begin a new life. I can hear the clouds, the winds, and I'm capable of things that have lead to my purpose. I always wanted to change the world, and now I have the power to do that. There is always another beginning. That's what I've learned."_

He finished his monologue and silence fell.

"_What are you going to do with me?" _whispered Maya.

"_I would be very glad if you joined us. The question is, do you want to take this new beginning?"_

* * *

At the first moment, Mohinder was quite sure that he knew their way and as a result, he knew the way out. For about half an hour, he wasn't sure any more. Especially, traveling with a woman and no one to ask for guidance. During that time they have only seen three people, naturally gang members. Luckily, they haven't noticed them. But it was getting more and more frightening and weird. It was getting darker and darker and they couldn't see what was around them. Mohinder decided that they should find refuge in the first house open. They were quite lucky again. The door of the tagged and demolished house was not open but they could break in easily and hide the clues of it. They slowly walked inside, through the hall.

And in the next moment, a tall, black man jumped from the shadows towards and Mohinder. He was surprised and too slow to react. The marauder stabbed a knife in his stomach. Kamala screamed but he didn't realize that. He only knew that he was bleeding heavily. The man took a step back, pleased with the result while Kamala was trying to pull Mohinder away from him.

"Whatcha doin', bitch?" he shouted and kicked at her. She landed beside the hall's wall and dropped Mohinder's body that fell in the other direction.

"Maybe I should teacha some things?" the man hissed, and smiled grimly, but she could only see some white spots as many of his teeth was black, too.

"_Do something_." rattled Mohinder.

"_I can't!_" she shouted, her voice full of fear.

"_Why?_" asked he. His voice was quiet and tired.

"Shuddup!" shouted the marauder and kicked Mohinder.

"_Is this Nirvana?_" he rattled.

Kamala stopped for a moment. She was afraid. But not just because of the marauder. She knew her abilities would protect her. But how could those work, beside Mohinder, beside someone she had loved from the first moment. Her heart was beating hastily when she looked at his body. Maybe he was right. Maybe Nirvana was waiting for them. But if it really was, she wanted to face it together with him.

She took a deep breath and stretched her hand. And thought about fire.

* * *

Hiro's first trip led to the police department in downtown Tokyo. Though the policeman handling Kimiko's case was very busy and was definitely bored of his work, his patience and aggressiveness brought results slowly. After many hours, he knew anything he wanted. He knew that the Yakuza who were usually acting like some Robin Hood, kidnapping rich people for ransom and giving the money to the poor, broke into her house while she was asleep and brought her away without waking her up. They hadn't left any clues but the police knew where their territory usually was. The policeman told Hiro something about the expansion of this family but Hiro didn't care. He thought that this and all he knew about the typical Yakuza would be enough to face them.

He went into the district ruled by Toraga's and was waiting for the right moment in front of a grocery.

He sped up time because he was nervous and impatient. Very impatient. He was looking at the people coming into the store until two men arrived. Their bodies were full of tattoos and one of them was carrying a sword in his belt, like the samurai. They rushed into the grocery, with Hiro right after them. At the moment he stepped in, the one without a sword was holding a gun in front of the old shopkeeper's face. As he noticed Hiro, he turned around and fired a bullet towards him. Hiro stopped time to evade that, walked slowly to the other Yakuza, took the sword out of his hand and stabbed him in the stomach with his own sword. Then, he let it go again. The bullet hit the wall, and it took several moments for the Yakuza to realize what had happened. As his eyes met Hiro's ones, Hiro saw fear. He dropped his gun and tried to run out. Hiro teleported in front of him and closed the door.

"_I want something from you._" he said harshly.

"_What?"_

"_Kimiko Nakamura. You took her. Tell me where she is and you'll be wherever you want to be."_

"_You're lying!" _he shouted and jumped towards the gun. Naturally, Hiro got there first again.

"_You won't be killing yourself."_

"_I can' t talk. I'll be dead if I do."_

"_I am the son of Kaito Nakamura. Like he did, I'll shield you from your enemies."_

He looked up at Hiro and Hiro felt like he was respected now.

"_Show me!" _he said.

Hiro stopped time, grabbed his hand and teleported both of them to the top of the Empire State Building. Wind was blowing heavily and it took the Yakuza a few minutes to gain his balance.

"_Where is she?"_

"_How do you do that?"_

"_Where is she?"_ he repeated.

"_I'll tell you if you bring me to Hawaii."_

Hiro bowed and did just that. There, as they had agreed, the Yakuza told him an address and that it is guarded.

* * *

Monica thought the storm and wind would do well for this city. It might be good to sweep out all the mess people had made. She spent the day looking around, looking for the ones responsible for this tragedy. But she didn't found too much. Sometimes, she saw some gang members at places well known to be ruled by them. But she found that there were too many of them to attack. And too well armed, too. She didn't learn how to evade gunshots and didn't have the confidence to try it. Sometimes she thought about small attacks but first, she wanted to see what the real deal was. This was a gang war the whole city had never seen before and without any obvious reason. She also tried to find policemen but she hasn't seen any patrols.

As she went back to the burned house, which she decided to be her headquarters, she was thinking without any stop. She tried to find some courage in her heart. She was still afraid. Last time she had used her powers, the consequences were tragic. But now, she used her gifts for good. Like a saint. Like Saint Joan.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice.

"Monica!" shouted Damon. She looked up and saw him running towards him. She also called out her name and they hugged each other like they haven't seen each other for years.

"Take me away, please!" whispered Damon, still hugging her and not letting her go.

"I will. But I have things to do here."

"Take me away from him!" He almost cried.

"From who?"

"Him." he said and looked behind her back.

Behind him, there was a man standing. He had many wrinkles on his face but no beard. He was dressed like a homeless but his face was painted white like he was wearing a mask.

"Who is this?" asked Monica.

"Nana gave me his address. But I don't understand anything he says."

For the first time, the man spoke, in French so Monica thought she had understood it. His voice was deep like a canyon.

"_I am Wiklum. I am translator of the dead."_

* * *

It didn't take a long time for Matt, after arriving in Albuquerque and putting Janice in safety to learn how many primary schools have been in the city. There weren't many of them so it also didn't take much time to find a pupil called Molly Walker.

As she saw him, she ran to her immediately, calling out his name.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

But Matt didn't answer. Instead, he said something else.

"I missed you." Then, he looked in her eyes. "I have a lot of stories to tell you. But first, we have to find a place to sleep, don't we?"

"I have someone coming for me." said Molly. "Here she is."

Matt turned around and saw a small, Asian woman who had an artificial arm. She looked surprised as she saw his face.

"If my informations are right, you are Matthew Parkman."

"Call me, Matt, Miss..."

"Wang. Wang M. D." They shook hands.

"Are you a doctor? That's great. I left my wife in a hospital. She's pregnant, you know..." He stopped as she looked insulted.

"I'm not interested in your wife, Matt. I'm dealing with your problems. Excuse me. If you want, you can follow me to the facility." She turned around and left.

Matt looked at Molly then at the back of the doctor.

"She's weird." he said quietly.

"Yes, she is." said Molly.

* * *

"_Good evening, Denis._" greeted Noah the old man in red coat, standing on the balcony of the old Bolshoi Theater. "_I didn't know the outside balcony is open in this part of the year."_

"_Because it isn't._" answered Denis as he turned around. His mustache was already white but his hair was still brown. He stared at Noah. "_What do you want from me?"_

"_Information. You had an old friend. Konstantin Starnov."_

"_And?"_

"_He might have left you something."_

"_What could he leave me after Yanks like you have slaughtered him?"_

"_Heritage, for example. An important and dangerous heritage."_

"_Stop fooling me around!"_ he burst out._ "Ask me something. Leave all the formal stuff._

Noah took a few steps, and looked out into the night. A few teenagers were walking on the place in front of the theater, probably drinking something. He took his gun.

"_What are you doing? Are you trying to threat me?"_ asked Denis.

Noah neither answered, nor turned to him. He aimed and shot. One of the teenagers collapsed, the others ran away immediately. Then, Noah suddenly turned and ran towards Denis, pushed him to the wall of the theater, holding the gun to his stomach.

"_I don't even know that girl and_ _I killed her without any mercy. But I don't like you, Denis."_

"_What the hell do you want?" _shouted Denis.

"_Konstantin had a son."_ As he said these words, he was pulling Denis to the edge of the balcony and pushed him further down. "_I must know where he is. Or any of his damned friends."_

"_What are you doing..."_

"_Talk or you die!" _yelled Noah.

"_OK, OK. I know one of them. His name is Vassily Siviliyov. He lives now here, in Moscow."_

"_Where?"_

"_Karenina Street 76. First floor. Now let me go, you bastard!"_

"_As you wish._" said Noah. He let Denis fall down on the stairs. He looked at the corpse, then he viewed the street. As he expected, the teenager's body had disappeared and there were only a few drops of blood left.

* * *

Bob sighed as he stepped in his office. He hasn't really got used to the fact that it wasn't on the ground floor now, instead on the third. On the top of everything.

"Hi, Bob!" He heard Nathan Petrelli's voice. He looked up and saw that Nathan was looking through Primatech's files and he spilled some whiskey on the desk.

"How did you get in here?"

Nathan answered but didn't look up.

"It's hot here, isn't it? Did someone open a window?"

Bob looked there and saw that one of the windows was really open.

"And what are you doing here?" he asked.

"The same you have done to me. Taking your life."

"How do you mean that?" While speaking, he tried to pull his gun. But Nathan's reaction was quicker. Before Bob could shoot, he jumped up, flew towards him and pushed him into th wall so strongly that Bob dropped the gun from his hand.

"What do you think who will inherit Primatech?" he hissed. "It was the idea of my parents. And now that you've successfully murdered me..."

"It wasn't me!" shouted Bob.

"Legally, I can't inherit it, of course. But it's mine. It's my heritage. And I'll find a way to do the right things. For the good of all of us. I'm the one who can do that." During this, Nathan pulled Bob to the window. The two flew out, up into the sky and Nathan pushed him away as fast as he could.


	16. Chapter 16: The other side

**Chapter 16: The other side**

Maybe it's not much more than a snooker game that destiny is playing with us. We often ask the question what determines our fate and our future. To find all these answers, we can only do one thing: turn to the past. We should enlist all the people, all the impressions, everything we've ever experienced. Only then can we know what shapes our decisions when we hear the call.

* * *

"So, this thing really tells the future?" asked Peter. He looked through the strings many times, looking for clues but he hasn't found anything.

Nicolai nodded.

"Where are we then?"

He pointed at a part where two strings, a darker and a lighter blue, were running besides each other.

"I am the..."

"The lighter one." he answered. "But first, I'll tell you another story." He put his hand on the dark blue string and began to walk away from Peter, to the strings representing the past.

* * *

Nicolai was very interested and a bit annoyed, too. After living most of his life of the cold Russia, he didn't like the climate of a country like Bolivia. He watched the meeting of the three creole men from a higher building near the place but he didn't take his eyes off his target. After the threesome decided to go separate ways, he ran down and walked a few meters behind Rios. He walked into an empty alleyway. Did he have another meeting, wondered Nicolai. The next moment, he turned back, jumped towards him and pushed his mouth to Nicolai's. For seconds, he held it there but nothing extraordinary happened. After he had woken up from the surprise, Nicolai attacked back and pushed him on the ground.

"_Why are you following me?"_ he asked.

"Damned strange ability you have, my friend." answered Nicolai.

Rios stopped fighting and stared at him.

"How do you know that?" asked Rios, with a small Spanish accent.

"I have one, too, my rebel friend."

"Show me! And you're not my friend."

"I've already done that. Your ability didn't work, didn't it?" Rios nodded. "And, I am your friend. I'm just like you and I've some bad experiences about that."

"How could you? Your ability is unnoticeable."

"My father was murdered because he was different. Do you anything about being different, Reginald? If I see it right, you have. But you have many gifts. And so many things to do."

"What things?" he asked curiously.

"With your help, we can change the world. Forever. We'll never have to be ashamed because we are different. Or we might say special."

* * *

Nathan wasn't really proud of what he had done. But it wasn't pure revenge. He knew Bob and knew himself. They were both dedicated to do the right. The problem was, that they weren't on the same opinion. He flew back to the office and made the first steps to become the real leader of Primatech. He looked through Bob's files. First, he took out and old friend's one.

* * *

"Give me a beer." whispered Matt. He didn't want to be heard by too many customers. "And some information about Nolan Jefferson."

"Who the hell?" the barman asked but Matt was listening to his thoughts. "I must alert him with Caylynn. He could get out on the kitchen door before this cop gets a smell of him." he thought.

"Nolan Jefferson." answered Matt calmly. He knew what he was coming for. "It's a pity." he said as he received his beer. "I might have a job for him.

"He haven't been here for a long time." the barman said as Matt was going away.

He went out, to the streets, to the alley where guessed the back door was. After a few minutes, he saw a door opening and a man moving out. He jumped out with the gun in his hand and yelled. "Freeze! Hands up!"

There wasn't too much light, in fact, it wasn't enough. He didn't see Nolan's face and he only saw one of his hands. So Nolan snapped the scourge-like thing in his other hand. The string picked Matt"s flesh and caused so much pain that he couldn't think and dropped the gun, too. Nolan stepped closer to him. Now, Matt saw his face. He grew a beard and his face was thicker and paler than on the photo of him at the police. He pressed the string harder, pulled out another one from his pocket, reeled it around Matt's neck and threw the other end of it on the nearby street lamp. He pulled Matt there and bound it like a rope.

"That'll be the destiny of any cop coming after me." he hissed and pulled the string so Matt was lifted up from the ground. But he let the other one looser and Matt tried to concentrate on him. Suggesting Nolan to let him go. To let everyone go. Nolan got to his head.

"What are you doing to me?" he whispered. Matt tried harder and the pinch got a bit looser.

"Let me go." he suggested. "Let everyone go."

Nolan released the string, sat down and started crying. Matt slowly picked up his gun and looked for something to cover his bleeding hand. But he still didn't get to close to Nolan He didn't know why but he felt with him. So he decided to go Sabine's bed first, although he could only hope for the best.

* * *

Nicolai took another string in his hands. A bright orange one.

* * *

There were only two people left at the poker table. It looked like a masquerade, with one of them wearing a sombrero and a poncho, the other one dressed like a punk rock star. They got the cards and both checked. They were staring at each other, although the latter player was wearing sunglasses. They both checked. The flop came up. There were two kings and and ace in it. They had made great bids before the turn came. Jack. The guy dressed like an hombre put all his money in and the other called. The dealer put the last card on the table but before he could turn it up, the rock star put his hand on the dealer's hand.

"Please, let it go, Mister... aaaaaaahhh!" he shouted as his hand began to burn.

"I hate cheaters." hissed Michael. With these words, he pulled a piece of a chair's leg out of his coat, ignited it in a second and threw it in the Mexicano's body. Then, he punched the dealer's face, left him crying in agony and took the money. A middle-aged man in a brown jacket appeared behind him, applauding slowly.

"Impressive, Michael. Pretty impressive."

"One for the show, amigo." he said. He threw a dollar on the hombre's corpse, burning.

"Honestly, do you enjoy this?" asked Nicolai.

"Honestly, I do. Now let's get out of here before it gets really hot. I hope you won't step in my way."

"After this, Michael? I wouldn't recommend it to anyone."

* * *

Nathan put away Matt's life. He knew that Matt will always stay on the side of the good guys. He was a cop in his soul. He decided to look for another file. Until he had found another very familiar name. Claire Bennet. He was surprised that the label said 'On mission'.

* * *

Father and daughter, they were together. Just before they reached their home, his cell phone rang. He was wondering who could call him so early in the morning, since it was about 7 o'clock. He had to realize that it was Bob.

"What's it?" he asked but he felt that Claire hugged him.

"How about going on a business trip again?" Noah suddenly felt the hug vanishing in one moment.

"You told me there will be no more." he hissed.

"For a while. But circumstances have changed. And things aren't getting better. The Haitian was captured on his last mission and you do know his importance."

"And what about Claire's importance now, Bob?" he argued.

"This wasn't our agreement." he said as he raised his voice. "And speaking of her, could you give the phone to her?"

"After all that happened tonight?" asked Noah.

"After that. Give me Claire."

He didn't know any better. He looked at Claire, looked in her eyes, her face that told him she was so innocent and distracted. And she will now feel betrayed again and he had no one to blame for that except himself. He was wondering about his new partner. Who will it be? He knew most of them from the last years, but he couldn't imagine any of them on his side. The phone beeped as Claire put it down. She was still staring at it.

"Dad!" she whispered.

"What's the matter, Claire?"

"We're partners." Noah thought he could blow the whole car up with his anger.

* * *

"But how does this make an effect on the future?" asked Peter.

"Soon, you'll see." answered Nicolai, picked another string an began to tell another story.

* * *

"There's only one left, Byron." said the secretary of the company Byron was working for.

"Another one?" asked he. He was very tired. He had many meetings, most of them successful and he even had the others under control. He didn't make the deals because he didn't want to.

"He wanted a meeting with you and only you." answered she. "He's in your office."

Byron went in and took a look of him. He was mid-aged, wore a suit that was made definitely for him.

"So, what can I offer you and for your budget?" asked Byron.

The man opposite him smiled. Byron looked into the window of his office, to see what he is thinking of. What his future, or maybe their future holds. But he didn't see anything.

"I'm not here to talk about financing, Byron."

As he called his name, Byron was really confused. Seeing the future was his ability. And no one else could make that.

"I'm here to talk about much more." After this sentence, he began to whisper. "I know why are you looking in that window. You see more in there than the mess on it, you know."

"What are you talking about?" asked Byron. He was surprised how afraid he was. And he had just met this man the first time.

"You have an incredible gift. You've used it for your own, personal gain. But we both know that you can make a difference in the world. You just have to accept your role."

"That's the point." said Byron, keeping his voice down. "I don't see my profit in it. I have a life, a style, a job and I'm a pro."

"And wouldn't you give it up if you could be someone like Jesus Christ?" He looked deep in Byron's eyes and asked. "Are you interested?"

* * *

Nathan didn't know what to do. He knew that his daughter was out there but he didn't know if he should call her back. She thought she was well protected with Noah beside her. He swept down the files as well as he swept away his thoughts. After a few minutes, he grabbed the first file he had seen. The name on it was Molly Walker.

* * *

"Who's this?" asked curiously.

"Mohinder gave me this picture." answered Molly. "He wanted me to find him. But I couldn't."

"What should that mean?" she asked. She felt like something was waiting in her head to erupt.

"He's dead." stated Molly harshly. "I know there's no hope but I keep..."

"Could you come down to the lab?" she asked suddenly.

"Why?"

"I need something from you."

"No needles, please." she said.

"No needles. Just come, please."

They ran as fast as they could. Molly said something but Wang simply didn't hear it. Her mind was elsewhere. As they reached the lab, she sat to her computer. It didn't take a minute for her to find what she was looking for. On the monitor, there was an image of the Haitian from the Company's assignment tracker.

"Could you think about him?" asked Wang.

Molly seemed to concentrate.

"I can't find him, either." she said sadly. "But he's alive, isn't he?" she asked when she looked in the doctor's eyes.

"As far as I know, he's definitely alive. And he has an ability to block other's abilities."

* * *

"Be my guest, Peter." whispered Nicolai. "Let me show my brothers and sisters in faith."

He took another few steps backwards and looked at a gray string.

* * *

Generally, he didn't like to leave the barracks. It meant something like home for her. He had spent so many time training, practicing with weapons, he couldn't really imagine what he should do outside. But this time, he knew someone was waiting for him. It was a very cold winter, especially in St. Petersburg, so he could hardly recognize the person. He wore so many coats that his face could hardly be seen.

"_What do you want from me?"_ asked he harshly. He was thinking about this situation all the way and he still didn't like it. He wanted to go back to familiar grounds.

The man threw a file to him. From his moves, he looked a bit angry or disappointed. He looked into Vassily's eyes, then to the file.

Vassily slowly opened it. The first thing he was surprised of, that it was from the KGB. He opened it and saw his own image.

Anger burst in him in a moment. He wanted to know where did this man get this file from but he decided not to ask. He moved his hand, trying to choke him. And it didn't work.

"_You're not Ivan Dussov, Vassily._" Hearing his own name barely made Vassily freeze. He was more used to lieutenant Dussov. Plan A didn't work so he picked plan B. He couldn't shoot so he asked.

"_How did you get that?_"

"_As you see. KGB stuff. But there is more. I'm like you, Vassily. That's why you can't hurt me without a gun. And that's why I'm here. Because I became an orphan exactly the same way like you did."_

"_How do you know that? Prove it to me."_ he hissed.

"_I'm Nicolai Starnov. You can check that if you want but if you will, it won't matter. My father was killed in front of my eyes and I know that yours made pretty many measures to hide you. Just like mine."_

"_Why are you saying this? He's dead, long time ago."_

"_Because I know how you feel, Vassily. And, more important, I've found their murders. And I want them pay."_

The direction of Vassily's anger changed. Nicolai was probably right. He knew his parents were killed but had never told that to anyone. If he had the chance, he would do exactly the same. And now, the chance came right to his door.

* * *

Though he didn't know the girl, Nathan immediately realized that she will be useless. She can find Peter, anywhere in the world. In the given situation, she might have the most useful ability of them all. He knew this name should be remembered. He looked through the files again until he found a familiar name again. Sanders, but not Niki, Micah. He remembered to that night in Vegas. Niki told him she had a son, a boy genius. This was probably not a coincidence.

* * *

"Because I have an idea." He grabbed her hand and led her out. Outside, he looked around like he was looking for something. After about a second, he started running again and stopped in front of a public phone.

"Are you talking to machines again?" asked Niki.

"From this phone" he began to talk as he stepped inside "I can gain access to the center where all the calls are registered. If the name was real, I can identify him and maybe even get his address as well."

He put his hand on the phone and closed his eyes.

"Isn't this dangerous?" she asked but there was no answer. "Micah?" she asked again but he looked like he was in a trance. She moved her hand towards him but she didn't know what will happen if she touches him. Before she did that he moved.

"He lives at Mason Street." he said quickly.

"Isn't this dangerous, Micah? I was trying to ask that."

"No." answered Micah calmly. "Anyone from outside might think that I'm asleep because I'm like talking in a totally different language but mostly I don't need this. Just when it's big. And browsing through thousands of phone calls is big enough."

A tear appeared in one of Niki's eyes.

"I won't leave you." she stammered and held his hand in hers.

* * *

"He might be one of my most trusted friends." whispered Nicolai.

* * *

Thorsten relaxed. He was able to do that. He was a computer programmer but with the help of his ability, he did several people's work in a few minutes. He loved machines, especially computers and he had thought many times that machines understand him better than people. Naturally, he didn't told anyone about this.

"A playground, isn't it?" asked someone behind him.

"Who are you?" shouted Thorsten as he turned back and saw a young man, a bit smaller than himself.

"Amazing how you handle them."

"What do you mean?" he asked angrily.

"In the beginning, it was nothing more than chaos. But I think that you see the system in it. It's like building blocks for you."

"Who are you?" asked he again.

"My name is Nicolai and I know a lot about you."

"I see that."

"For example that your father was murdered but was resourceful enough to hide you well away."

"I thought information is my weapon."

"You're not the only one but you're certainly a skilled user of it."

"Are you like me?" he asked, looking curious.

"Something like that. But if you want it, I'll show you. I'm eager to work with someone like you."

* * *

Another big game, thought Nathan. He's just realized what a treasure this family is. They are worth much more than he could have imagined. After he had found Peter, he must be sure that the couple of them is on his side. In just a moment, he suddenly someone who was also known. Hiro Nakamura. He picked up the file.

* * *

"Nathan Petrelli? Flying man?" he said weakly. "How could he die?" he whispered.

"He was shot." she answered coldly. "But with your help we can bring him back."

"Bring him back? How?" he was shocked by both the fact and her voice.

"I need you to teleport out his corpse then teleport us back to the facility." she instructed him.

"Why? He's dead now." he remembered his father. "Gone. Forever."

"You can't say that." she said. "He was a brave man. Someone who could save the world. We do need someone like him."

"You think he is more important to me than my father?" he argued. "If I didn't save Kaito Nakamura I will not save Nathan Petrelli, either."

"Well, we can make a deal about that. We bring back Nathan Petrelli and then we'll bring back your father, too."

Hiro was afraid. Can he accept a proposal like that? Can his personal love overwrite the bushido code?

"Will you help us, Hiro?" she asked. "All of us. Including your father."

He was confused. And then he said "Yes."

Hiro did everything he was told to. He teleported the slowly rotting corpse out and back to the Company's facility.

"Good." she said after they had laid down Nathan's body on the ground. Hiro has never a corpse before so his stomach was jumping up and down constantly.

The door of the room opened and two people entered it. Both looked like doctors dressed for a surgery. The first one was a small, old, bearded white man, carrying a metal bag and the second was tall, black and bald. The older doctor knelled down to examine the body and after that he opened the bag. There were several medicinal needles in it, filled with some red fluid, probably blood. The second man stepped to Hiro.

"You don't help?" asked Hiro from him.

"Yes, I will." answered the Haitian calmly and put his fingers on Hiro's forehead.

"Like it was ordered." said the agent. "Everything from the call of the boss."

* * *

Nicolai ended up in on of the room's corners.

* * *

He had been looking at the blond, pretty woman for many hours, even many days. She was so innocent, playing with all the small kids. But she had something to hide. And he knew something about that. And he wanted to learn from himself. He wanted to know why did he choose her first from her father's files. After she had finished for this day, Nicolai stepped to her and asked her.

"_May I disturb you?"_

"_Are you the father of Mischa?_" she asked back.

"_No, I'm not. In fact, I don't know him_." He began to whisper. "_I know your not just a simple kindergarten employee."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_You know that. You have something extraordinary. It might be something that you don't find normal._"

For the first time, she looked in his eyes. She didn't say a word but she looked like she was near crying.

"_What is that, Irina? What can you do?"_

"_When I think..._" she stammered. "_When I think about someone, I can hear every noise around that person. What she speaks, what she hears, even the cars or the TV._" Tears appeared in her eyes.

"_It's OK. You're not a freak or something like that and I'll show you. Think about someone."_

She closed her eyes. After a few moments, she opened them wide.

"_I can't here anything. How..."_

"_That's what I can do." _answered Nicolai.

"_You mean there are others like me?"_

"_And I want to find them just like I've found you." _answered he, adding a nod.

* * *

Nathan's mood changed again, and this was the most drastic time. He didn't care about Bob any more. Bob did lie to him. He was dead, he was buried and that's how he got his life back. But he should have said this before. It could have changed things. About how he feels. But now, it didn't change anything important. It just made him angry, filled him with pain.

He swept lots of files down from the table and cried for many minutes. Even after that, it was hard to force himself to look at the first file in front of his eyes. The name was Claude Rains and there was also a label, saying: "Waiting for reactivating. Sent to lab."

He wanted to see what that meant. He called the elevator and got down to the ground floor. There, he was stopped by a short, mid-aged security guard.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Petrelli. Can I help you?" he asked.

"Let me in the lab. I'm in charge now.


	17. Chapter 17: Surface wounds

**Chapter 17: Surface wounds**

The name was Claude Rains and there was also a label, saying: "Waiting for reactivating. Sent to lab."

He wanted to see what that meant. He called the elevator and got down to the ground floor. There, he was stopped by a short, mid-aged security guard.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Petrelli. Can I help you?" he asked.

"Let me in the lab. I'm in charge now."

Naturally, it wasn't that easy and Nathan knew that. But after he said that Bob Bishop had gone mad, jumped out of the window and told him that he left everything to him, as the true heir of the Company, the guard let him in and then went away to find Bob's corpse.

The man called Claude Rains was lying on a hospital bed and he was chained just like Nathan was after he had been resurrected. When he saw Nathan, he made a grim smile.

"Haven't seen your bro for a while, man." he said, with a tiny accent. "Looks like he didn't screw everything up."

Nathan stopped for a moment to think. They both made mess. Many of it. But what did this guy really refer to? He decided to let the second sentence go away and cleared his brain.

"I haven't seen him around, either. Do you know anything about him?"

Claude laughed.

"It's been a long time since he came to me to stop him from blowing up New York."

"Yes, it really was." sighed Nathan. A lot of things had happened since then. "Why are you here?"

"I thought that I would ask this from you. What on earth happened? Bennet trapped me and the next thing I know is that I'm here." Nathan didn't answer. He was waiting for consequences. Things, that he didn't even know about.

"But you keep me alive." Claude said, with greed in his voice. "I'm important to you..."

"You were." interrupted Nathan. "You were important to Bishop. For me, you're not much more than a simple file, a simple story."

"Let me slip away. I won't get into your way again."

"I know, invisible man. But I must learn why were you so important that someone wanted to bring you back from death."

He turned and decided to go up into the office. He had to think a lot.

* * *

As Monica saw Wiklum's flat, she immediately decided that she won't stay here any minute more than necessary. It was quite scanty, the walls were painted with various colors and there were skulls of people and animals in the living room. She understood why didn't Damon like this place.

So, the next morning, they said goodbye to the old man and left his house. The morning was a gigantic hide-and-seek game for them, trying to hide from the ones who they didn't want to see, and trying to find someone else.

After many hours, they have found an armored police van. They came out of the bushes, with their hands up. Three heavily armored people stepped out of the van and slowly, restrained them.

"Thank you." sighed Damon, still shaking. He was happy that he could leave Wiklum and didn't get shot in the way out, either.

"What are you going to do?" asked Monica.

"This is abnormal." answered the officer behind him. "They don't listen to what we say, they attack police officers with guns."

"So?"

"You must understand, Miss, that this is something really extraordinary. Really out of control. Nobody has ever seen anything even similar to this."

"So?" asked she again, slowly becoming more and more impatient.

"We'll hunt them down."

Monica was shocked.

"You mean they slaughter them?" she asked.

"If that's necessary."

Something, a voice inside her burst out. She couldn't let that happen. They might be just gangsters, but they were people. She stopped, knelt down and began to cry. She thought that she knew now what was her gift for. She knew that she must do everything she is able to stop this.

"Please, officer, let me go."

The officer stopped, looked at her, beyond his mask and opened the handcuffs.

"No! Monica!" shouted Damon, as he was slowly put into the van.

"You're going to be safe." she said. "But I have something to do here." To earn redemption, she added to herself as she watched the van go away.

* * *

"Was this really necessary, Dad?" asked Claire angrily, after she had changed her bloody clothes.

"The most important thing about a threat is if it is really believable." he answered, with a quite calm voice.

"Why me then? You could have just shot like anyone else on the street."

"You need to understand, Claire" said he, standing of from the chair he was sitting in "that every ability requires a different strategy. Both for with a partner with the ability and against someone with the same ability."

"Don't tell me that my ability should be used for this." said she, ironically.

"In the given situation, I couldn't find out any better."

"And why do you have to dictate?" she asked, angrily.

"Because I've been capturing people with abilities for more than fifteen years. I'm the more experienced one of us."

"That's it." she shouted. "One of us. That's what you are. And I'm one of them. You're jealous that you're not like me."

Noah stepped in front of her daughter and looked into her eyes. If could have killed with his gaze, Claire had been near dead.

"If you stay in this industry well enough, you'll realize that I have nothing to be jealous to you." he stated. And he pulled a small box out of his bag.

"Want a real use of your ability? There's a loaded gun and a tazor in that box. We're going to hunt tonight and I need you to cover my back. Use both of them, each in one hand. Do you copy?"

Claire nodded curtly.

* * *

But as Nathan went up to his office, he was not alone.

"Oh." said Matt Parkman. "I'm just looking for this Bob guy. I didn't know I would find you here."

"You came directly to the right place." said Nathan calmly. "Though Bob's not here any more. He left charge for me."

"That's great." he said and he smiled. "Congratulations. Though I think he must have left you pretty much a mess."

"I can handle it. But what can I do for you?" His voice was calm and silent but his brain was working like a factory.

"There are two things. First, my wife is at the hospital near here. Could you have an eye on her for me?"

"Immediately." answered Nathan. "What's the problem with her?"

"Actually, it's not a problem." He gulped. "She's pregnant. I don't know since when but I think the baby will be born soon."

"Then I should be the one congratulating you."

Matt didn't react for this.

"There is something else. I want to talk with Molly Walker. A few moments, undisturbed."

"We'll find a way for that. But first, can I ask you a favor?"

"Yeah, sure." answered Matt in a moment.

"There is a guy, Claude Rains, down here. He doesn't want to talk but I would need him to. Could you help me?"

Matt nodded and Nathan could see that he trusted him. And he hoped that it will remain this way.

* * *

He was like a spider. Though it was getting more and more difficult to lonely find gang members, and alive, but that only meant that his plan was working.

Yet, he didn't know what he had been feeling. He didn't enjoy what he was doing, he didn't enjoy the power he was given. He could control a whole district. The people living on the streets also gave him a nickname, the Spirit Guide. But his days were bitter. All of Samuel's days were bitter since his brother had died. He was bitter, and revenge made his days sweet. He poured all his bitterness, anger and desire for revenge into the brains of the people, the gangsters he had met. A lot of blood was spilled. Soon, all of the people who were not involved in the civil was he had created, had left the area. But that was not enough for him. He wanted much more. He wanted all of the parasites of this society, people who were living from the work of the others, just because they had a gun and were able and mean enough to use it, to suffer and in the end, to die. And that was what he had planted to the head of another unknown gangster, unknown and dispensable individual.

War was spreading like a wildfire and Samuel was leading it.

* * *

Mohinder woke up in a hospital. He was on infusion, but no part of his body was aching. He looked up. It was night. Then, how much could he sleep? A day or even more? He looked around, there was another bed, to the right from his one, also with a tube and a bottle for the infusion but nobody was lying in it.

"_I'm here._" said a soft voice from the left side. He turned there immediately and saw Kamala sitting in a hospital chair, totally unharmed.

"We were attacked. How did we get here?" She didn't answer just let his memories return and have his guesses. "You've used your abilities. You burnt that man."

She looked down.

"_I'm not proud of it. But we were in danger_."

"And then, how did we get here?"

"_I teleported you here."_

"You teleported? Why didn't you say that? We could have got out much easier."

She looked in her eyes and he saw something very confusing. And that she was confused, in the same moment.

"What is it?" he asked quietly.

"_You still don't know. You might presume but you don't know." _She took a deep breath. _"I was trying to tell you, I was waiting for the right moment. I was such a fool."_

"_Trying to tell what?"_

"_That I love you." _she shouted. "_I love you from the moment I saw you for the first time. You were so sad, so small but I knew your thoughts and I knew that you're a good man. But as a result of my emotions, I can't use my abilities. I'm sorry. I didn't want this to happen."_

"But you've used them. You've overcome this."

"_I don't know how but I did. Maybe it was Nirvana, really. I don't know. I don't know so many things about me. Or you."_

He didn't answer just looked at himself.

"Did you cure me?" he asked.

She nodded. He tried to grab her hand but she was too far.

"I don't know what are you capable of, Kamala. But if you are able to do anything special, I need your help." He stopped and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm selfish. I don't know what to say. I haven't been in this relationship thing lately. I'm sorry but I can't give you many answers."

She stood up and grabbed his hand.

"_It's OK. Tell me what to do. I'll help you if I can. I guess this is my destiny for the present."_

* * *

"_So, what are you? Really?" _asked Maya from Reginald, as they were walking down in an empty alleyway.

"_Me? I'm just a simple person who was gifted by God and make a tiny bit more to reach his goals than others."_

"_And what does your gift is truly?"_

"_I can manipulate earth, air, water and fire. But only given elements, I can't make it appear out of nowhere."_

"_Then, why is the killing?"_

"_It's some like a battery. It's the only way I can recharge my ability..."_

"_You are really gifted." _said Maya, amused. "_You can make it go away."_

"_But that's not the point!" _said Reginald. "_Even with this, I'm more useful than I am without it."_

"_For who? For those who you've killed."_

"_No. For them." _he said as he opened an old, dirty door. There were three people in the small room behind it, all of them natives and all of them were smoking.

"_Are you ready?" _asked one of them, the oldest one, who had a white beard.

Reginald nodded.

"_It's a pleasure to meet you, Senor Valdiran. I hope I can count on your services." _he said as he shook hands with the old man.

"_As far you don't make any serious trouble, I'll look in the other direction but if you get caught, I won't know you." _He took another sip. "_Who is she?"_

"_A friend of mine. She's Maya."_

"_Nice, nice." _murmured Valdiran. _"If you can introduce me to your other friends like her, I'll be even more generous."_

"_She's more than you'd think, Senor. And we don't need more of your generosity."_

They shook hands again and he left.

"_What now?" _asked Maya.

"_Now you'll see how things work. I don't want you to decide before that._

* * *

They didn't find the keys for the house but they didn't need to. After about a minute of looking for the easier way, Niki lost her patience and broke the door. Micah was walking right after her. They moved into a roughly decorated hall, with only one coat rack and a poster in it.

"What will we do?" whispered Micah. "Are we looking for something?"

"In my opinion, all I want is to thrash this place." answered Niki. Her voice was confident. She was sure what she wanted to do. She wanted to cause pain. She wanted this man to feel what he had done to them. Though this place looked like it didn't mean the same for Lazarus as it meant to them. She wasn't sure if this was really his home. She didn't know if he really had a place to call home. Suddenly, they heard something. There was something boiling in the kitchen. They slowly sneaked in.

Lazarus was sitting in a window, in the opposite side of the kitchen.

"It's an honor to meet you again, Miss Sanders. You've also brought your son. How adorable. Sorry, but I have to leave you." He picked something out of his pocket and threw it towards Micah and Niki. She immediately jumped in front of her son, just to protect him. This time, this was more important than rushing after him. After a few moments, she looked up. It was just a small ball, naturally burning. She rushed to the window and looked out but there was no sign of him.

"This is a maniac." said Micah quietly. "He loves to make people afraid."

"I know. But we'll see who laughs last." she said and began to break every piece of furniture into pieces.

Since Jessica had disappeared, Micah had never seen his mother so furious.

* * *

"Just as I've said, it's this only call. But this is really necessary." said Peter, stepping towards a public pay phone.

"Just as I've said, it's no problem. I have some things to do, too."

Peter stepped in. He didn't know what could he see more if he stayed with Nicolai. But his intuitions said that it won't be easy. Nothing will be easy. And to do that, he needed advice. And he needed his brother to know that he was as safe as he could be, and to know about this whole thing going on. That someone knows about their future. A future that can change the world forever. He wanted Nathan to see the possibilities and the threats in front of them. He dialed Nathan's cell phone. The line was busy.

"Come on, leave it!" he murmured to himself. "Pick it up, please." The phone gave for than ten rings. Disappointed, he put it down.

"I've got news for you." said Nicolai as Peter stepped out.

"What news?" he asked sadly.

"I've just arranged a meeting. Between you and my friend, Byron. The man who can see the future."

* * *

Monica was very surprised as the old man opened the door. Sweet smell of some incense surrounded her, and some smoke came out of the room, too, as she was standing there, looking in to Wiklum's eyes, looking into the masked face. But she couldn't see any sign of emotions there.

"I came back to you because I need your help."

"_I speak only French. No English. I don't understand." _he answered curtly.

Great, thought Monica. Here is she standing, in front of the needed help, and the old crap refuses, just because he didn't understand a word in English. Really great. She learned a tiny bit of that language, so she decided to try to speak on it.

"_I came back. I want help. Help from you." _There was silence for a moment. "_I'll pay for you."_

He seemed to understand what she was saying although she wasn't sure if she had used the correct words. This time, her ability couldn't help. He opened the door wider and called her inside.

"_People like you don't come to me often, Monica Dawson."_ he murmured, in his deep, monotone voice. _"Nana told me about you. And that is the woman I imagined. Strong, really strong in the heart."_

"_Do you know her?"_

"_I did, but it's a long story."_

Silence fell between them again.

"_Where do we start?"_ she asked.

"_Looking around. For the translator, dead tell many things. And, I don't accept anything from living. Sometimes, the dead give me gifts, and that's enough for me."_

Although Monica couldn't imagine what the dead people give to Wiklum, but she felt a bit more self-confident, knowing that the old man will be on her side. In fact, they were in the same boat. They both wanted this madness to end, the sooner the better.

* * *

Claude got a bit nervous as he saw Nathan coming down again, with Matt beside him.

"Who's this?" asked he, trying to conceal his distraction.

"The person who will reveal your secrets, Rains." whispered Nathan. "Go on, Matt."

"What shall I look for?" asked he.

"Hey, men, what the hell do you want to do?" interrupted Claude, while he was trying to shake his chains, to free himself.

"Why was he so important that Bob decided to resurrect him?" asked Nathan.

A scene came into Claude's mind, which was also seen by Matt. They were traveling with Bennet to the bridge where he shot him. They had had a conversation before it.

"He was hiding someone." said Matt.

"Sonofa..." rattled Claude.

"Who was it?" asked Nathan. "One of us? With abilities?"

The scene changed. Claude was talking with a guy, Arabian or Indian. They were talking about a person with abilities. who needed protection. To be protected by both of them, from the Company. It seemed that it wasn't really important for Claude at the first time.

"The target's got an ability." said Matt.

"Get out of my head!" cried Claude.

"What's the ability?" asked Nathan.

Claude and Matt both heard the Arabian man's voice.

"She can absorb abilities from other people, like invisibility from you, alchemy from the boss, and so on. But she can only use it if she keeps his cool. Once her emotions take over, she's totally powerless." He leaned closer to Claude. "I can't lose her, Claude. She's the only one left from my family. You know my relatives were killed in Kashmir but she survived."

Claude nodded curtly.

At the same time, in the real world, Matt told Nathan about the girl's ability.

"We should find her before someone else does." whispered Nathan. "Where is she and what's her name?" asked he from Claude. As he didn't answer, Matt got inside his head once again. After a few moments, he answered.

"She was known as Kamala Abderrahman but as she is living now as a monk, she don't use her name."

"Where?" asked Nathan.

"Demak is the place's name, maybe. A temple in India."

* * *

Noah broke the lock as quietly as he can. He slipped into the room, with one weapon in each one of his hands, like she had advised it to Claire. She stepped in directly after him.

"All clear." he whispered.

They were in a place that resembled to a dining room, with some old wooden furniture and some plates, when Claire asked her father.

"Couldn't he just give you a fake address?"

"If I was him, I would have told the truth." he answered quietly.

"He told the right address." called out another voice, similarly rough like Noah's one but with a Russian accent. They turned around and saw a dark-mustached man, staring right at them but without any weapon.

He moved his hand and an invisible force drew both of the weapons out of their hands. They couldn't even move. He pushed moved the table with his mind and smashed Claire to a cupboard, and as it broke apart, even through it, into the wall. She collapsed as some pieces of glass and wood were in her head.

"No!" shouted Noah. "Kill me, if you want something, you bastard."

"Certainly, I will." he answered. "But first, you must tell me where do you come from. Who do you work for?"

As he was saying these words, he moves Noah to the other wall of the room, pressing his back to it.

"You won't get a word out of me." hissed he.

"Sure, you will." said the Russian man confidently. "If you won't, you are going to die in immense pain." He moved his finger and blood began to flow from Noah's throat.

"Didn't you change your mind?" he asked but no answer came.

Suddenly, the Russian shouted and collapsed. Claire was standing behind him and she was holding a tazor in her hand.

"Surface wounds." she said. "Now, let's kill him." And she got the gun in her hand.

"No." interrupted Noah. "We need him alive. For this time. I'll go out to the car for my suitcase. Watch him!"

* * *

Wang had just left her work for about five minutes, to drink a coffee, to keep her awake. Although not all of her needs were at disposal but she really had a lot of work to do. In fact, a lot of things to think of. Ando was mostly around her but he wasn't really interested in the principles of her work, so he was hardly useful.

When she came back, the computer didn't react to anything she tried. She unplugged it as there was no other way to shut it down and tried to switch it on again but instead of the usual screen, a creature like a dragon appeared in the monitor.

"My God." she sighed.


	18. Chapter 18: The unstoppable flood

**Chapter 18: The unstoppable flood**

We harm and heal, we create and destroy. It's only up to us which side do we choose. It is our decision that we try to help, erasing all the enormous damage created before us, or we can choose to cut. Cut into flesh, harm the living. Sometimes it is necessary but mostly it is not. Yet, why do so many people on Earth choose this way?

* * *

Suddenly, the Russian shouted and collapsed. Claire was standing behind him and she was holding a tazor in her hand.

"Surface wounds." she said. "Now, let's kill him." And she got the gun in her hand.

"No." interrupted Noah. "We need him alive. For this time. I'll go out to the car for my suitcase. Watch him!"

After a few minutes, Noah came back and pulled a tube and a flask full of some liquid out of the suitcase.

"What are you going to do?"

"I can't threat him. We must keep him calm, he can't use his ability while we are interrogating him. So I'm going to drug him a bit. Hopefully, this makes him tell the truth."

"The truth about what?" asked Claire.

"About the others." answered Noah while he was putting the tube into the man's nose.

"And then what?"

"We'll send him to the States. An order came that the Company needs a villain for research purposes."

"A lab rat?" asked Claire. She was disgusted.

"Pretty much so." Noah turned away from her and slapped the Russian, making him wake up.

"What is your name?" asked Noah, just to test the serum's effect.

"Vassily Siviliyov."

"Everybody knows you as Ivan Dussov." said Noah, calmly. It didn't make sense, to lie in such an unimportant question.

"It's my alias. My parents tried to hide me."

"From who?"

"From our enemies. From the yanks."

"Is there anyone else like you?"

There was a short pause until Vassily spoke again.

"Irina. Irina Yeronova."

"Where is she?" asked Noah harshly.

"She lives outside the city, in an old warehouse. She's keeping someone there."

"How do you know that?" asked Noah. The last sentence raised his interest very much.

"She spoke to me about that."

"Anyone else?"

"Nicolai Starnov, but I don't know where he is. I haven't met him for a long time."

"We won't get far with this." murmured Noah. "What is Irina's ability?"

"She's not dangerous. She hears people."

"Is she protected?"

"I don't know." rattled Vassily. "I presume no..." And he passed out.

Noah stood up.

"OK. I'm ordering a crew to take him to the States, Claire, please, get ready. We'll round up this girl, too. Maybe she'll lead us to Nicolai."

"Is this an ordinary day for an agent?" she asked.

While dialing, Noah nodded.

* * *

Just a few minutes later than Matt left to talk with Molly, someone knocked on the door of Nathan's office. He told that it was open. Two people stepped into the room. Both of them was a surprise for Nathan, especially the man.

"Nathan?" asked Ando. "What are you doing here?"

He looked up, confused just like his former partner was.

"I've been promoted lately. But what are you doing here?"

Before he could answer, the woman interrupted him.

"He's helping my research. Alongside with Hiro Nakamura."

"Hiro is here?" asked Nathan curiously.

"He was. He has left." answered Ando.

"But there is something more important here." said the woman.

"I think as I'm sitting in this chair, it's my duty to decide what is important and what is not, Miss..." he hesitated because he didn't know the woman's name.

"Doctor. Doctor Wang Kwanzhe, Mister Petrelli. And before you decide, you should think about the consequences of a major computer shutdown."

Nathan became more curious.

"Is it considerably possible?"

"My computer has been attacked with a virus." she answered. "It does look serious. Someone hacked our system."

"A virus? A hacker. Great. Any more good news?"

"Shouldn't you..." shouted Wang.

"Act? I will. In this moment." he said as he was moving towards the window. "Your job is to find Hiro for the moment. Mine is to find answers for your case." He jumped out and flew away.

* * *

As they appeared in the middle of a room, Mohinder and Kamala hoped that nobody had noticed them. Kamala offered to shut down electricity but they decided not to. They needed at least the lights.

"Where are we?" asked Kamala, looking around. There wasn't much light in the room, just lots of boxes and paper.

"I don't know." answered Mohinder. "Maybe this is the archive room, well under the ground. If I was them, I wouldn't guard the archive files directly but the floor in front of the room.

"I have it covered." said Kamala confidently. "Just stay around me."

Mohinder didn't notice any change in their environment.

"What did you do?"

"I turned both of us invisible. Now, let's get out of here."

"I hope this ability won't be tested seriously." murmured Mohinder to himself.

They opened the door, and ran out.

"Where is Molly's room?" asked she.

"Second floor. And it really looks like we're in the first basement. Would you teleport us up?"

"If you want to. But we can also take an elevator."

"The faster the better." whispered Mohinder.

"OK. Then... wait." she said, and she stared to another point, well over his head.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"No, this isn't possible. He can't have been caught." murmured she, to herself. Then, she looked at him. "We're taking another way. There is someone else here, waiting to be free."

Mohinder looked back at her and could almost see fire in it.

* * *

Byron Bevington looked a really gray man. There was hardly anything noticeable about his appearance. He was small, fat, he wore glasses and a brown suit. He didn't seemed to be different from anyone else on the streets of Minneapolis. But everyone in the room, both Peter and Nicolai knew that he was really different. After Nicolai had introduced them to each other, he left soon. He said he had some business.

"A bit weird, isn't he?" asked Byron.

"Yes, he is." said Peter curtly. "But if you don't mind, there is much more at stake, so I wouldn't like to talk about him."

Byron stared at Peter.

"Are you doubtful? Maybe, I can help you."

Peter gulped before the answer.

"I don't know what is happening to me. With my abilities. Sometimes, everything slips out of my control. Sometimes, I can't even use the simplest of them."

"I guess you know that I can't control what I see."

Peter nodded. He hadn't forgot the things in Ireland.

"At least, I should give a try."

He looked at the window of his room but nothing seemingly extraordinary happened.

Suddenly, Peter felt like someone had grabbed his throat and everything turned black for a moment. After that, he saw himself standing. It was night and he was in an unknown city. He held out his hand and lightning erupted from it, hitting someone. The other person shouted loudly, coldly. He suffered for some seconds and then, he flew into the skies. Peter flew after him. He made a quick turn, and landed quickly. His clothes were seriously burnt. Peter turned after him immediately, began to fly towards him. And the other person turned, stopped Peter in his flight, and in the same moment, his face could be seen.

It was Sylar.

* * *

Matt was quiet and Molly was not used to this. She could feel that she was nervous. After a few minutes of walking, without even a single word, he sat down beside her, on her bed.

"I don't want to get inside your head, and it seems that now I'm unable to begin."

"Begin with what, Matt?" asked she.

He laughed.

"I simply can't believe that I've made such a great journey, just to be stopped by my fears."

She put her hand and his.

"Go on." she whispered.

"I've found Janice. And there was a question I wanted to ask her about."

"Say it out, Matt." said Molly calmly.

"I don't want to hurt your feelings. But I... excuse me, I and Janice... we want to adopt you."

Molly smiled and laughed because of her happiness. She jumped on Matt and hugged him.

"You know you were always like my father." she whispered.

"I love you, Molly." he said. "And I know you miss them. I know what is it like. I missed my father, too."

"You're a good father." she whispered as she began to cry.

* * *

Monica quickly became desperate because of the old man's behavior. He didn't look like he was interested in his own safety. He was strolling down the streets as he was living his old life, but now, the once safe and tidy streets were ruined by armed gangsters.

"_What are you doing?" _she asked many times, before she got something similar to an answer.

"_I know much about death. I don't have to be afraid of it."_ answered Wiklum. Monica had her opinion about this kind of philosophy. He might just be taking a bad step, and he would be shot down, leaving Monica alone. And she knew that she cannot solve this mystery alone. She really needed his help. While they were walking down, a question came to her mind.

"_Do dead people speak French?" _she asked.

"_I don't know. I just understand what they saying."_

"_But how do you hear them?"_

"_I go where they have died and I can speak to them and hear them."_

"_How many people died on this street?" _she asked, although she wasn't sure she really wanted to know the answer. But it came.

"_More than you could imagine."_

"_Can you speak with them?"_

Wiklum nodded and stopped. Sometimes, his voice sounded like a song but it always remained deep and monotone like it always was.

"_They speak about a Spirit Guide. Someone immeasurably strong who kidnaps people, making them fearsome and ferocious at the same time."_

"_A Spirit Guide?" _repeated Monica, although the meaning of the words wasn't totally clear for her. "_Can we find it?"_

For some minutes, he didn't answer. After that, he shouted.

"_My challenge!"_

He began to run so fast that it was difficult even for Monica to follow him. He turned left at the next corner and ran straight to a former shop building.

* * *

Marie was very surprised. He didn't imagine Gabriel the way he had behaved lately. After he drew that tiny thing into the snow, he became very calm, and a bit quiet, too. He stopped looking around, just sat in his room, stared in front of him and rarely talked.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked in a morning, a few days after that night.

"For the right moment." he answered curtly.

"How do you know that it is the best moment?"

"I feel it. I can't explain it but I will know."

She drank a bit of her coffee.

"Have you read Gautama? Buddha?" she added, looking that he didn't understand.

Gabriel shook his head.

"Quite a pity." she said. "You know, he talked about the Nirvana and some meanings of life, higher than the most understand."

"What do you want to say?" interrupted Gabriel.

"You look quite philosophical sometimes. Like now. You just sit here, although you had a clear purpose to come here. And yet, you aren't doing anything. Just meditating. Maybe you are seeking the way to enlightenment."

"What is enlightenment? Can you explain that?"

"Of course, I can't." she said. "Enlightenment is not universal. For every one of us, every unique person, it is different. Like we all are."

There was a pause for some seconds.

"Can enlightenment come together with immortality?" asked Gabriel.

"In what kind of a way? The soul is immortal. Who would want more than that?"

"Someone whose body is, too. And someone who has seen his death yet it hasn't happened."

* * *

Niki and Micah didn't have many places to go. He suggested them to go as far as they could, maybe buy a house from the money he could get, or stay in a hotel for some days, but without using their old names. Except a few things, they wanted to leave their old, disturbed life behind. They bought two tickets for a bus, on its way to Phoenix. When they were just about to depart, a middle-aged man wearing a suit stopped them. Seeing his face surprised Niki very much.

"Nathan?" she stammered. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to help you on your journey."

"If you want to do that, you should better take a step away and let us go."

He turned his head back and looked for their destination.

"And if I say I need something from you?"

"What can you need? And what can you give?"

"I can't give anything except the promise of a better world."

"I'm not really interested."

"So you throw away your only chance to make a difference? You want to run for the rest of your life?"

"I nearly killed you once. Don't force me to do that now."

"May I ask your son?" he asked. She nodded curtly.

"What about you, Micah? If you could help the world, would you say no?"

For about a minute, Micah didn't answer.

"Can we trust this man, Mom?" she asked.

Niki turned back and nodded.

"Show me how." he answered.

"Are you both ready to fly?" asked Nathan.

"You have a private jet or what?" interrupted Micah.

"No. For this journey, you have one."

* * *

Mohinder was both amused and a bit frightened how easy it was, stepping in the elevator, in front of the eyes of an armed guard, although they weren't invisible any more because that couldn't have protected them, so Kamala made illusions. Yet, they didn't go on the second floor, they headed down, slipped away from another security guard and phased through another door. Kamala seemed really shocked as she saw the man chained to a bed, and who was drugged.

"Claude! No! Claude!" she cried silently.

He held her in his arms as she almost collapsed. After a few minutes of calming down, Mohinder stepped away from her and pulled the tube out from Claude's arm. As he was waking up, Mohinder asked Kamala.

"Who is this man?"

"He's a friend of my brother. He had been protecting me for years." Suddenly, she rushed to him, trying to hurry his waking up. As Claude woke up, he wasn't so calm.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he shouted immediately. Kamala took a step back.

"Stop! Both of you!" interrupted Mohinder.

"This is not your business!" shouted Claude as he took another step towards her.

"Yes, it is, my friend. I brought her here and I'm also here to get you out."

"You should have never done that." murmured Claude.

"How could I leave you here?" whispered Kamala.

"You should have. Especially now. They brought a damned telepath here and now they know that you exist. It was all for nothing."

"A telepath?" asked Mohinder. "Mid-aged guy with black hair, a bit fat?"

Claude focused on him again.

"Do you know him?" he asked.

"I thought I knew. If he is here, it will make my job much more difficult."

"You should have come alone. She's too much worth."

"I offered him help. You don't know him." stammered Kamala. "And I won't leave without him." she added.

Claude looked from Mohinder to Kamala three or four times.

"You should calm down and get out as quickly as possible. I'll handle him. OK?" he instructed them.

"As far as I get what I want." answered Mohinder.

"I'll wait for you." she added.

As they left the room, Claude began to whisper to Mohinder.

"Watch out. This might get a bit messy. I'll get you up but your mind-reader friend is your job."

* * *

Hiro stopped time once again and he knew that he was near to his purpose. He came to the building he was told and he did see some people who looked like Yakuza. But even in frozen time, he didn't do anything to them. He thought that living with the shame that someone fooled them was more punishment for them than death. He walked right past them and naturally, they couldn't notice him. He was like a ghost, a nightmare for them right now.

He walked down a stained stairway, leaving many armed people behind him. He felt like he was Kensei, a modern Kensei who would teach these villains a lesson.

He reached a steel door. He was so happy. He knew that this was the place he was looking for. As he couldn't walk through the door, he teleported behind it. He saw his sister, tied to a chair. As usual, she looked very angry.

To show the Yakuza who they were messing with it, he decided to start time and show themselves in real time. Only then will they escape. They would know who had done that with them, but surely, they won't dare to touch him. Or anyone around him.

For one moment, Kimiko looked very surprised. Then she shouted.

"_Hiro! Behind you!"_

But Hiro couldn't turn in time. Someone grabbed his face and his neck, and suddenly he felt like someone was strangling him for a time that seemed immeasurably long. He tried to stop time but it didn't work. As the feeling of the strangle disappeared, he felt very tired. And in the next moment, he was punched unconscious, too.

* * *

"What do you want now?" asked Matt angrily. "I had to leave her alone."

"I just suggested a meeting for all of us." answered Nathan calmly. "To solve a very urgent program."

In the room, there were three more people. Doctor Wang first, a blond woman, who seemed known for Matt. After a moment he realized that she was the one who killed Malsky and he remembered something about her in the Kirby Plaza fight, too. There was a kid, too, who Matt didn't recognize.

"Could you tell us what is the problem with this, Micah?" asked Nathan, pointing on a computer. On its monitor, a huge lizard could be seen, similar to a dragon.

He put his hand on it.

"It's not responding. Like a person who is deaf, or something like that."

"Can you cure it?" asked Nathan. "If you don't mind that question."

"He's not a doctor. Neither a mechanic." interrupted the blond woman.

"I don't know." said the kid.

But Matt wasn't listening to him, instead to the doctor's thoughts.

"Of course, he can't. I have already tried."

"Why do you think you can handle this?" said Matt out. Everyone turned back to them. "What do you know? Your a doctor, aren't you?"

She looked at him, with clear fear in her eyes.

"Wha... what?" she stammered.

"You said you have tried to stop this. How?" he entered her head and in the first moment, he heard two words. "It's mine."

He got out immediately.

"Why do you think it's yours?"

She burst out into tears. It took a while for her to calm down.

"Many years ago, I was working for the Chinese government. For the secret service. They asked me to construct a powerful computer virus. I lived in the country, I had just got familiar with computers and the Internet, so I did it. It was an experiment and before I could complete it, I realized what have I been doing, destroyed every copy I found and left the country. But now, I could catch a glimpse of the code of the virus and it's similar to mine."

"You knew this and you didn't say a word?" asked Nathan sharply.

"How would you feel if you constructed a monster like this?" she asked. "I was ashamed, I wanted to leave all this behind myself."

Nathan took a deep breath.

"Now, you'll have the opportunity to fix it."

Wang nodded.

"OK." sighed Matt. "Can I go now?"

Nathan nodded to him, too.

* * *

Like they had done before, as they reached the old warehouse, they got ready to attack without any hesitation. Noah broke in immediately and Claire followed him, close.

"There is too much open space." whispered he to himself. They didn't see much of the place, either since there was not much light and this made their situation more complicated. They searched through the ground floor. It took many minutes for them to find anything noticeable – Claire found a stair walk. Noah instructed her to go up and prepare to fire, while he would cover her back.

She took all of her steps carefully and as quiet as she could. Just as she got up, she collided with someone. Metal clanged and she took a step back and aimed her gun to her attacker.

"I give up. Just don't shoot. Don't shoot." sighed a woman. Presumably Irina. She was heaving.

"Got her!" shouted Claire and her father rushed up, too.

"Is there anyone else here?" asked Noah hastily. He was surprised that this would be so easy for them and he feared further attack.

"At the moment, it's just me." answered Irina.

"Is someone coming here?"

"No. But I have to go away."

"In this moment, you won't go anywhere." said Noah roughly. He was still trying to get used to the darkness and seeing through it, for the expected danger.

"You don't get it." she said. "I have to go away. For your sake, too."

"Why?" asked Claire and Noah in the same time.

"I put all of my cards on the table." she said. Her voice was slowly getting calmer. "Your attack has been known for a long time. We've made some countermeasures."

"Why do you say we?" interrupted Noah.

"I'm talking about me and Nicolai."

"Where is he?" he asked.

"You have much more to worry about. Your life is at stake."

"You could have been easily moved away. We would have never found you." noticed Claire. "Why are you here?"

"That's not the point!" she shouted. "If I'm not report to him that I'm safe in an hour, you, man will die. The girl won't – she's not able to."

Claire tried to find his father's eyes.

"I think she's bluffing. What's your opinion?"

"Damn! I'm in your hands! Why would I lie to you?" she shouted.

"To walk away safely." said Claire quietly. "If I were you, I would do exactly the same."

"You die!" she shouted and she jumped up, towards Noah. Claire reacted instinctively and pulled whatever was in her right hand, the nearer to her father.

A gun barked and someone collapsed. For some moments, someone's breath was the only thing that could be heard.

"Dad!" Claire called.

"I'm here." answered Noah and he started to get up. "You have a pretty good shot." he added. "You shot her dead."

"Well, nobody can say I'm not your daughter." she pointed out, with a slight smile on her face.

"Come on." said Noah. "If the Haitian is here, we should find him."


	19. Chapter 19: Healing

**Chapter 19: Healing**

Healing is not an easy task, and that might be the reason why just few people choose the path of Hippocrates as a profession, as a purpose of life. And the others? They often forget that doctors aren't the only people who can heal. A smile, a laugh, a moment to share pain, it all helps our world to recover from its diseases. Some of us can take more, can spend more energy to do that. But this isn't the real question now. The real question is if we are ready, if we have the courage and energy to help others around us. It's just a drop of rain but without single drops even the greatest river would dry out.

* * *

This room was still very strange for Peter. It was something inhuman in it. There was no sign of life, and yet, it contained strings symbolizing many and many human lives, human fates. The door opened suddenly and as he turned back he saw Nicolai stepping in.

"Byron told me you will be here." he stated. "He said you wanted to see this room again."

Peter took his hands away from the dark gray string he had been holding.

"I came back here and I saw something about a man. From someone who is important in my life."

Nicolai's face didn't tell him any emotions.

"And before that, with your friend, Byron, I saw myself. And my abilities were working again and I was fighting. I came back here and I saw confusing things." He took a deep breath. "Can a monster fall in love?"

Nicolai afforded a small smile for himself.

"Even in the most mundane and in the most special moments, we are all human. And love is really a human need, isn't it?"

Peter looked back in the room.

"And what about you? What's your motive?" asked Peter. "Is it love again?"

"I just don't want to become a person like my father. And maybe you just have to face your fears to regain control of yourself. That would be something natural. Trust me, it will come soon."

"That's what I'm afraid of." whispered Peter. "I can't do anything alone."

"You are not alone." said Nicolai.

* * *

"You made a pretty big mess, you know." said Claude harshly. Since he was just invisible, not unnoticeable, he attacked a few security guards while couldn't be seen and punched them unconscious.

"I should say you made a big one." he whispered as they stepped in the elevator.

"I'm not talking about this. You shouldn't have brought her here."

"How many times will you say this?" burst out Mohinder.

"Until you don't get it. You can't know what does she mean to me. She was my best friend's sister, I've trained her, sometimes I feel that I made a tiny bit of her, and I protected her from these rats."

He took a breath because he was heaving.

"Are you finished? Because in that case, I will tell you what Molly means to me. I've fought for her life day and night, I managed to save her and I even took a part of raising her after his parents were killed because of what they were. I didn't want to drag Kamala into this again, but Molly Walker is like my daughter."

Claude's face fell. After a few seconds, he began to talk and his voice was deep and dark.

"You really made a very big mess. Now let's start cleaning it up! Try to deal with your friend in brains!"

As he spoke, the door of the elevator opened.

* * *

It took quite a long time for Claire and Noah to find the Haitian who was locked down in the cellar of the warehouse, drugged. He told them that he was attacked by someone whom he was believed to be Nicolai and that he was on a lonely mission. He talked to Noah a long time about the strange conditions of his mission, but after that he thanked them that they came to rescue him. Noah told him that he was sent back to the States and hopefully they will go with him, too. As Noah was driving them to the airport, Claire asked him because she was very curious about what he had said.

"Are we going back? Really?"

"The main objective of our mission was to capture Nicolai. If that bitch was right, and we presume that she was, he is in the United States. And in that case, there is no reason for us to stay here for even one more minute."

"You don't like this country, don't you?"

"Don't tell me that you do." he said.

Claire smiled. She thought about the last time she was smiling and realized that she didn't remember that time. Maybe, her father was right. She was not made to be a Company agent. She liked the world as pretty as it seemed, and she liked smiling and laughing, even if she had to cover her eyes sometimes. It was too much humanity in her that made her feel uncomfortable after the first few days, although she didn't know what it was. Now she had a guess, a good one. It was a good try but maybe her career as an agent will soon come to the end, especially that they had found Noah's old partner.

Suddenly, his phone rang, someone sent him a message. He picked it up.

"Get back to hideout. Assignment is there. Send the Haitian back." he read it out loudly. "Great." he added.

They dropped the Haitian at the airport and began driving back to their hideout.

* * *

A huge Yakuza, with over-body and shoulders like a gorilla, came in the room where Hiro and Kimiko were tied to each other. Hiro was still unimaginably tired, he was almost unconscious. The man noticed that, went away for a minute and returned with a huge bucket of water and flushed it on Hiro's face, making him awake.

"_We know you have something to hide." _he said with a very deep voice. "_An ability that gives you true power. What is it?"_

Hiro felt like he was going to black out again, in that very minute. He thought that his ability was a total secret to the world and he could keep his real identity, even if he is a superhero. He tried to teleport, he even made his cheeks wobble, but nothing had happened. The human gorilla was still standing in front of him. A terrible idea came to his mind. They might have taken it away. But if they did, he should never tell them the true nature of the ability. They might ruined history if they knew what he was capable of! And he couldn't let that happen.

"_I'm strong. I can break through walls with my bare fists."_

The Yakuza nodded, and left them alone, although he was yelling after him for minutes.

"_Can you?"_ heard Hiro a whisper. It was Kimiko. She was awake. "_Unfortunately, it might be useful now."_

"_No."_ answered he. "_I could make ourselves get out of here but it isn't working."_

"_Then we are really lost."_

Hiro was very surprised how easy she gave it up. It was not like her, her mentality, she never looked tired or showed that she was lost, even if she was a bit. It was not like a mentality of a woman growing up in the land of the samurai, in the land of Kensei, so much filled with their worship. But he couldn't say anything to fill her with courage.

* * *

Niki was afraid about leaving Micah alone with someone who she didn't know a word about. And she didn't see clearly Nathan's intentions either, when he called her away from the laboratory. He said they should leave the two of Micah and Wang alone so they could do what's necessary. Necessary – this word was a bit strange for her, especially that is was used related to her son. Yes, he chased Lazarus, because she felt that it was necessary. She couldn't have dealt with the shame if she had left him to walk away without any harm. At least, he hasn't got a real place to live now. But it was her business, not Micah's even if she couldn't have done that without him. And now, what did Nathan, who was still a foreigner, although a sympathetic one, want from him?

As they arrived in his office, he began to talk before she could ask anything from him anything.

"Do you remember when we were in an office like this last time? You had your power but someone tried to use you. Against me and against other people. Like a puppet."

"Why are you saying this?" she asked. "You can't use me again. I'm free."

"Of course, you are." he answered. His voice seemed tired. "But I ask help from you. Meaning your son, too."

"What does he has to do with this?" she asked hastily. This was the most important question.

He turned around and put a newspaper in front of her.

"All we can see in this world is disasters. A new computer virus arrived. No one can communicate with people in Hawaii, using electronic methods. A stock exchange collapsed in Hong Kong. No big deal, you can say. But imagine when this plague spreads all over the world."

He took a deep breath.

"When we were in an office last time, a little time after a person who had abilities just like you and me, took the challenge, elevated himself, fought and his courage won. He defeated the man who tried to use you. Unfortunately, he was late to save you but he saved many lives that day. I'm not happy to say this but at present, your son is in the same situation. If he isn't able to develop his ability and defeat this computer virus, our world will never be the same. It will be unstable and dangerous."

Another deep breath.

"You, me and your son. We are unique. We were given talent and we must decide the purpose to use it. You know we must heal the world. And if we don't even try to do that, I consider that a waste."

* * *

For many minutes, maybe even an hour, Micah just listened to the Chinese woman called Wang. She was talking about codes, features, defense methods and many more things. She was even drawing but he didn't understand much. He wasn't a programmer, he wasn't dealing with electronics, or mechanic things. All he was able to do was just instinct. He could talk to machines and even tell them what to do. But how could he speak to deaf – this was what she didn't understand. And that was why didn't speak the same language. What did people expect from him? Was he expected to be Neo and save the world? He always wanted to help, to save but now, he faced the enormous weight of that.

Yet, he decided to take the challenge. He sat down to the doctor's computer, laid his hand on it and concentrated. He thought harder than ever and he needed that. He tried to imagine that there was a wall to be broken, and only he had the strength to do that.

Suddenly, the world dissolved around him. He looked around, everything was glowing in various colors of the rainbow. There were numbers and letters all around him. He looked at his hands. They were still the same, he was wearing the same clothes as he was wearing in the real life. But he felt that this wasn't real. He could feel it like the living world but it wasn't living. He could touch the numbers and the letters but they were dry and uncomfortable. Maybe, he could be a hero really. He did the first steps, and those were maybe the most difficult to take. A jump for mankind, maybe.

Suddenly, he heard a terrible noise, a terrible roar. He turned round and saw a huge creature like a dragon behind him, formed from the elements of the cyberspace around both of him.

It roared again and pulled his long neck in, like a serpent before attacking. Then, in one simple moment, it tried to hit him. He didn't know if he would be fast enough but he tried to jump away from its beast-like head and its sharp teeth.

In the next moment, his body fell off the doctor's chair. He was unconscious but he was breathing slowly and quietly.

* * *

Maya was frightened, in fact very frightened. She couldn't understand herself, her motives, why was she following a man, a villain like Reginald Rios, such like a puppet, unable to move, bound to a charm or something like that. Now, they were standing up on a building's roof and he was looking on the road under them like an eagle. Like a predator, without any mercy shown. Just like he was or as he looked like. Suddenly, a few motorcycles appeared. He cracked his fists like was going to kill all of the riders with it. More motorcycles showed up, and, at last a limousine appeared behind them. It was so absurd that six or even more armed people on motorcycles were escorting someone in a monumentally expensive limousine, in the most hidden and poorest districts of the town. Like everybody knew what was going to happen, no one could be seen on the streets. Except the two of them.

"_What was it? What did they want you to do?"_

"_What I'm best for." _said Reginald with a curt nod.

As the riders were closing up to the house where they were standing garrison, he whispered.

"_Now you all will see what are the powers of our mother Earth capable of."_

He raised his fist and pulled it down again. In the same time, in only one single moment, an earthquake erupted under the car. The ground collapsed under it and it sank, earth just swallowed it up, with some riders, too. The others stopped as they saw what was happening but they weren't able to do anything about or against it. They simply couldn't understand what was happening in front of their eyes, it was just unbelievable.

Just like for Maya. Reginald moved his hand and the earth was like his puppet. When he finished, he lay down and pulled Maya with himself.

"_Now what are you going to do?" _whispered she.

"_Give them someone to be blamed."_

His hand started moving again and a huge wind caught her up. She was yelling and shouting but nothing helped. She landed on the ground in front of the bikers, but she wasn't injured. The guardians were moving fast towards her, so she put her hands up, and looked up to the roof. Reginald touched his lips with his hand and waved her goodbye.

This was the moment when everything broke in her. She couldn't hold the anger and the disappointment in her heart back. She closed her eyes and felt that they were going to blacken again. She started crying, not because shame or sadness but because of pain.

When she opened here eyes again, everyone around her was dead. She looked up on the roof but nobody was there. She looked down and from the clothes, she recognized someone who had been Reginald Rios when he was alive. She moved closer to him and saw that blood was leaking from his eyes and from his mouth. He probably collapsed and fell off the roof, she thought. The main thing was, that he would never wake up again, there was one villain less in the world. Deep in her heart, Maya knew that she would have done this much earlier, but she didn't have the strength and the courage.

Wind blew in her hair, and she looked up. She was in Latin-America again, where she was descending from, and she felt something like the feeling of being at home. She may have killed many people, many of them may have been innocent. She was a bit ashamed of herself, and she wanted to leave it all behind herself. And now, she had the opportunity. She stood up and started to walk away from the scene of her sin.

* * *

She moved as quiet as she could. Wiklum told her that nobody knows about the passage to the cellar except the Spirit Guide himself. She was lucky, because if she hadn't had her ability, she couldn't have passed through the small window that wasn't even opened wide. She opened a small trapdoor and saw someone. It was dark so she needed time for her eyes to get used to it. Someone was moving, making small moves. After a few minutes she realized that he was eating something. She tried to sneak in, behind him, because she was told that if he touches her with his hands, her fate is in his hands. But she didn't notice that there was a bucket under her and she kicked it, making some noise. He heard it, jumped up, ran behind the small table and then turned towards her. He looked in her eyes and she saw some anger in his fiery looks.

"Who are you?" he shouted. "How do you know about this?" He couldn't have been older than she was. Was it possible that he was the powerful Spirit Guide? Anger and bitterness came out from her soul in one minute.

"I'm here to stop that madness you're making."

"It's my revenge. If you knew…"

"Knew what?" she interrupted. "There is a war outside. My family died in it."

"So did mine!" he shouted back.

She had enough of it. She decided to capture him and show him what he had done. Before he could react, she jumped up on the table and before he could grab her, she jumped away, to the right and kicked him in his face.

He hit the wall and near of being unconscious, he stared at her with disbelief. Then, he fell and hit the floor.

* * *

Marie just stared at Gabriel with amusement. She didn't know him as a person who was just standing and waiting. She expected him to show more activity. But maybe, he had something more to do, a higher purpose. A few weeks earlier she wished if she knew someone who was gifted in the way Suresh meant it.

And now, Gabriel was here and she couldn't do anything with him. She couldn't study him and she didn't even dare to ask him about his life. He wasn't rude or anything like that, in fact, he was so calm that she didn't want to disturb him. She wondered what was he thinking about, especially after he had mentioned immortality. He really desired that and maybe she understood him. Seeing the future put huge weight on his shoulders. He didn't know if he could see something that he hadn't wanted. Maybe she was an accident like this. But no, it was destiny's hand in their accidental meeting. She definitely felt something more in him and towards him than pure interest.

Suddenly, her phone rang and made her forget about thinking. Someone texted her and she picked it up.

The message contained only an address. She didn't know that street or where it was. She showed it to Gabriel. At first, he also stared at it, surprised. Then, his face turned calm.

"We should get a map of the town." he murmured.

"Why?"

"This is the moment I have been waiting for." He looked at her. "You wanted to see someone with abilities in action?"

She nodded but now that she saw a maniac-like fire in his eyes, she wasn't so sure.

"You'll get everything you want." he said quietly.

* * *

Just after she had ordered the nurses to carry Micah to the medical facility and treat him well, another man, dressed not like a nurse, instead like a single company agent called her away and this event made her forget everything. Now that Petrelli was in charge, everything became really unstable and therefore she didn't know what she could have expected from this person, this messenger.

"We've got a special package for you, Doctor." he said. His voice was dry and emotionless.

"From who?" she asked, surprised.

"From Russia. The Bennets' mission."

She hadn't known that Bennet had been sent back on track again, so she stared at the man, but for a long time he didn't say anything.

"Just go down to your laboratory." he began in the end. "It's been carried there."

She became immediately shocked from what she saw. Her package was a middle-aged man, lying on a hospital bed and being constantly sedated with a drug. Beside him, there was a file with only one sheet of paper. She took it with shaking hands. There were three words on it: Villain. Ability: Telekinesis.

In a second, she understood what did she have to do, although she wasn't really sure she really wanted to do that now. Speaking about killing someone and really doing it, taking somebody's life were two different things. But if he was a real villain, she would really do good. Both with the world and with her own scientific research. She was just afraid what would this experiment turn her to. But, she took a laser knife and began to slice the man's head open.

* * *

On the second floor, Claude and Mohinder fortunately didn't find any guards. It was nice and warm, looking like a block of flats from the inside but from the expensive ones. But that didn't raise their interest. They ran to the room which Mohinder remembered was Molly's one. As they broke in, she was playing with some of her toys. As she saw Mohinder, her eyes opened wide from surprise.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as he ran towards her, grabbed her and took her up from her bed as calm as he was able to.

"Come on" he said in a hurry "it's not safe for you to stay here."

"Where else could I go?" she asked, with a sad voice.

"Where you're not used."

"I'm not going to be used." she replied, her voice stubborn. "And I'm not going anywhere without Matt. He's going to be my new father." she added.

"Your new father?" asked Mohinder.

"Yes." said a voice behind him. He surely didn't notice that Matt had entered the room. "And what are you doing here, Mohinder? Why did you run away? Tell me."

"Stop!" he shouted. "Don't read my mind."

"I'm not going to do that unless I have to." said Matt calmly. "Just tell me."

"I'm just trying to save her."

"From what?" asked Matt with disbelief.

"From being used as a weapon. As an instrument to find people and help them being caught. Rounded up."

"They're bad people."

"Not just all of them!" shouted Mohinder. He didn't care about how many people would hear him. "They tried to hunt me down."

"Slow down! I'm sure they weren't."

"Ask her! Ask her if she was asked to look for me."

Both stared at her as she slowly shook her head.

"You see." said Matt immediately.

"No. I won't let her become the victim of their greed."

Matt stopped and closed his eyes. After a moment, he opened them again.

"Who did you bring..." He couldn't finish the question as he moaned and collapsed.


	20. Chapter 20:The human versus the predator

**Chapter 20: The human versus the predator**

"Ask her! Ask her if she was asked to look for me."

Both stared at her as she slowly shook her head.

"You see." said Matt immediately.

"No. I won't let her become the victim of their greed."

Matt stopped and closed his eyes. After a moment, he opened them again.

"Who did you bring..." He couldn't finish the question as he moaned and collapsed.Molly screamed as she saw Matt falling to the ground. Immediately, she felt Mohinder's hand what was put in front of her mouth.

"What the hell have you done?" he yelled. Molly was shocked because she didn't know what demon he was talking to.

Someone, a tall man with brown hair and a huge nose, was appearing from thin air. Claude Rains turned himself visible before he answered.

"I got your ass out of some serious shit. He was trying to get inside your head. I had to neutralize him."

"Company routine." murmured Mohinder, holding his hand in front of Molly's mouth, to prevent her from screaming.

"Just hold the girl and pull her down to the cells. Stay close to me! If she alarms someone, I'll kill you myself."

He grabbed Mohinder's hand, opened the room's door and started sneaking out.

* * *

Hiro was tired. Without his power, he wasn't able to get them out of the dirty cell they were closed into. He wasn't able to do anything. At least, he tried but that didn't change anything except his hands were in a pain that was getting stronger and stronger. He wished if he had spoken right, and he had really had super strength. He could break the chains with ease and maybe even disarm the Yakuza soldiers guarding them outside. Even if he didn't know how many were there. But there was no help. He felt lost and powerless, just like his sister and he could feel that.

Suddenly, the door opened with a creak. They looked up and saw the soldier stepping in who interrogated Hiro last time. His left and his forearm were in a sling, Hiro thought that it was broken. He looked at him with fury, and then stepped aside. Another Yakuza got in, older and thinner than the first one and he had a beard, too. He wore a shroud like samurai.

"_You thought you could fool me so easily, Nakamura?" _he said angrily. "_Did you expect us to let you go away without trying?" _He sat down so his hand was lower than Hiro's one.

"_You might not know me. But you are clever and you are the first one who was chosen."_

"_For what?" _shouted Kimiko.

"_Did you kno about the founding of the company?"_

"_How does this come..." _Hiro tried to start with the question but his sister interrupted him.

"_The Nakamuras were serving the state of Japan for a long time. After the world war, our grandfather got a share from the companies of the rebuild."_

"_Lie!" _the man shouted. "_While forming Yamagato, your family were in alliance with another one. Mine!"_

"_A Yakuza?" _Hiro stammered. He couldn't believe his ears.

"_My father wasn't simply a clanlord. He was Ekei Ozaki, a clever and wealthy man. He helped the Nakamuras founding Yamagato. But after many years, he and your father, Kaito, had many quarrels and the right was decided in a ritual duel between them. With Kaito's abilities, which were kept secret but were very useful in the duel, he couldn't lose. All of his fortune was taken from my father and the name was erased from Yamagato. From that day, I sought revenge and now I got what I wanted."_

"_What?" _asked Hiro.

"_Your power, Hiro Nakamura. I expected one or two of you to have a secret ability like your father. __After I had kidnapped Kimiko, I realized that she didn't. So all I had to do is to use her as a bait and get you here. I know about your ability, Hiro Nakamura, all I want to know is what is it."_

"_You will never know it. You can torture me if you want." _said Hiro courageously.

"_Of course I could." _he said as he stood up. He stepped to Kimiko and in one moment, he grabbed a small knife and put it to her throat. "_But if you lose a member of the family?" _He moved his hand and cut her. She tried not to shout but she was scared to death. The cut was slowly getting longer.

"_Stop!" _he shouted. "_I can get to wherever I want."_

He stared at him and put the knife away. He walked out and called the soldier with him, leaving them wreathing.

* * *

If someone would have noticed them, it could have been thought that they were a simple, ordinary couple, though maybe lost because this part of Moscow wasn't among the most popular ones, from the tourists' or couples' point of view. But Sylar and Marie both knew that in his head there were totally different plans. He hadn't killed for a while and felt ready and prepared to make a bloodbath if he had to. He remembered, and the feeling of pain and disappointment was like a lightning bolt for him. He had tried to capture Claire Bennet twice already and she had always managed to fool him and get away without a scratch on her.

"Why don't you go in and wait for them there?" asked Marie, with enthusiasm in her voice.

"It's more fun to wait outside for them and when they are comforted, begin the hunt."

She shrugged his shoulder like she was saying OK, but she didn't really understand that.

"You know" he said "I just miss practice."

She stared at him but she didn't seem that she suddenly enlightened. In fact, how could she, Sylar thought. There is no other person in the planet who could feel the way he could. Get ready, launch the attack, kill fast and get the long-deserved prize. That was what he was looking for. He was excited because he couldn't imagine the feeling. Being invulnerable, a dream coming true.

A van arrived and they watched the two stepping out of it. First, a tall, middle-aged man with horn-rimmed glasses and then a small, blond girl.

His pulse started to raise, as he got a glimpse of his prey.

* * *

As Niki left when she heard that something had been wrong down in the computer room and Micah had been taken away, Nathan was left alone, at last. He washed his sweating face and then he went to the window of the office and stared out. He knew he took a hard job and he knew he couldn't avoid sacrifice. He felt like this had been his world, though it was similar that he was used to in his father's office. He could never rest, he had to be ready all the time to help people, to make them happy and strong in a world full of tragedy and crises. He knew this wouldn't be easy and that he needed help. And right now, he couldn't afford to let this boy die, despite his personal desire. This would have been a too big price for the world, and for her. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. He didn't really wanted to see anyone, as he didn't expect anyone.

"Come in." he said quietly, instead of sending his visitor away. Always ready.

He sat down as the door opened. Nathan just saw the Chinese doctor, standing well away from the door but staring right at him. Then, he felt that someone or something caught him and pulled him away from his desk, out of the office. He tried to fly but he couldn't, and in a moment he was standing in front of her, petrified, unable to move.

"What are you doing?" asked he, afraid. A few seconds ago, he was thinking about a way to a better world, and now, someone could destroy it easily.

"Testing." she replied calmly. In a moment, the force was gone. "I took a new ability. Now that it is working I can test myself and figure out this whole thing." She turned around and left.

"Watch out for the boy!" Nathan said but she didn't seem to listen. He should better keep an eye on her.

* * *

Despite all the given circumstances, Niki decided to hold her son's hand in hers. She didn't care about all the doctors moving around them like a storm, slowly getting weaker and weaker. He wasn't sweating heavily, his breathing was undisturbed and at all he was stable. Yet she could feel that this simple move, feeling her hands in his, comforted him. The doctors told her that he had woken up before but he was still weak. Niki thought about what happened to him and what Nathan said. Micah could have been the last hope but she couldn't lose him. And if anyone had another opinion, she should crush them easily.

His heartbeat sped up and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Hi, Mum." he said quietly and he smiled.

"Hi. How are you?"

"I'm fine."

Silence fell between them for a seemingly long time. Niki couldn't say anything now when he woke up at last. Then, desperation burst out of her in one sigh.

"What should we do?"

Micah seemed to think before he answered.

"Guard me, please." he said. "I'm going back but I want you to guard me."

She looked at him, shocked.

"I'm not going to let anyone to send you back." she said.

"Nobody has to. I want to." Her surprise grew and maybe her anger as well.

"I can defeat it, I know. If I had known what to do I could have done it earlier. Now I know and I will do it. Just be my guardian."

She looked in his eyes and saw dedication. She realized that he wasn't just talking about being a hero – he really was one and he found his mission. He wasn't a kid any more.

"What should I do exactly?" she asked.

"Hold my hand." he whispered and slowly got out of the bed.

* * *

Hiro looked towards the exit as it opened again. He felt that Kimiko turned her head, too. The Yakuza clanlord who had tortured stepped in, alone. The knife was in his hand, again. But instead of striking them, he sat down in front of Hiro, just like he did a few hours ago.

"_I am a very lucky person even if I had to make this choice." _His face moved closer to Hiro's left ear. "_I have an ability, just like you, Hiro Nakamura. The hardest part was to recognize it, because it isn't like yours, not so simple and not so common. It was a huge accident when I became conscious of my power. I can take powers of other people but I can't use them myself. I can only give and take. But with this, I could become a lord. I can make my soldiers, my allies stronger, faster and more resourceful. I am very happy that you became a victim of mine."_

He stood up, slowly took the knife and released both of them while the soldier with the broken hand came into the room.

"_I won't kill you." _the clanlord said. "_I'll ensure that you remember the name Ainora Ozaki, the man who humiliated you and found revenge that was sought for a long-long time."_

The soldier suddenly grabbed Hiro and Kimiko, and in the next moment, they found themselves in the CEO's office.

Hiro collapsed. He was more than humiliated. He was nearly destroyed.

* * *

Both Claude and Mohinder sighed deeply when they found out that Kamala is still down in the cell and it looked like she didn't have a scratch on her. She was sitting on the floor, meditating.

Suddenly, her eyes popped up. For a moment, they were blind faded but in the next they turned back to their original brown colour. She looked shocked.

"They are coming." she stammered.

"Get the hell us out of here!" shouted Claude. In the same moment, the door shattered as something like a grenade or a stick of dynamite blew up. People outside were yelling like they were going to a battle but orders were said out even louder. Taking advantage of the reigning chaos, Molly bit Mohinder's hand and broke free. In that moment he didn't really care about Molly, instead jumped in front of a tazor which had been shot towards Kamala. As the needle hit his back, he could feel that he touched her but nothing more, before he collapsed because of the drugs spreading all over his body.

* * *

Moments seemed hours or maybe even years for him. But he couldn't afford to make another mistake with such a valuable target. Just like he had said: get them comforted and only then attack. So Sylar decided that they should wait for about five or ten minutes and that she should look at her watch, not to let his desire to overcome him. It was really harder to say than to do it. He was like a hungry predator and this process was like a torture for him.

"Let's go!" she said after a while.

They crossed the road and reached the entrance door of the block.

"What now?" she asked. Her voice was almost as enthusiastic as he was.

"Stand back and watch!" he advised. She did so and he began to concentrate like the long-died Zane Taylor. The door slowly melted and at the same time, her face fell as well. It looked like this was something she could have never imagined. He didn't really care about her thoughts but in deep, he liked the fact that he and his abilities have truly amused someone. They entered and he asked her to be quiet because he wanted to listen undisturbed to find the two Bennets' flat. After a few minutes, he heard Claire's unmistakable voice, like a tingling in his brain. It came from the floor above them. After that, he started concentrating again, lifted both himself and Marie in the air. Another kill came to his mind, just like when he went to Montana and murdered the woman with enhanced hearing. He didn't remember her name, but did he have to? He moved them up to the first floor, in front of the door which one he thought that was leading to Claire's room. He took a deep breath. Another chance given to him by fate.

With a telekinetic punch, he crushed the door and rushed in. There was only one small room, Claire and Noah were both standing.

"Get out, Claire! Any way!" Noah yelled with a panicky voice while he pulled his gun. With Sylar blocking the exit to the door, she tried to use the only way out that was left: the window.

Sylar was ready and reacted fast. Noah pulled the trigger, Claire tried to jump out of the window – he was able to catch both. Claire was forced to stop, she was grabbed by the force of his mind and the bullets were also stopped in mid-air. In the next moment, he launched the bullets back towards Noah.

"Dad!" shouted Claire but there was no use. The bullet went right through his head and he died. Sylar smirked. He was ready for a bloodbath. Then, he pulled her closer to him, to slice her head open.

Suddenly, something hit his head and broke into pieces when it crashed. For a moment, she broke free but he recovered quickly and grabbed Claire again while he turned back. Marie was heaving and she held a piece china in her hand. Anger burst out of him and, while still holding Claire, he pushed her to the wall. She looked terribly afraid.

"That was what you wanted to see." he murmured. "That is who I really am." Surprisingly even to him, there was some sadness in his voice.

"I knew." she whispered. "I have known it since I went to the police office. You murdered your own mother. What ability did she have?"

"And you let him go?" shouted Claire.

"Shut up!" he shouted and closed her mouth with the power of his mind. "She didn't have any. It was a simple accident."

She didn't say a word but didn't seem to believed him. She was close to begin crying.

"You helped me get here and get what I want. Therefore, if you leave right now, I am not going to kill you."

She gulped.

"I liked you." she said. "Does it have to go this way?"

"I've told you. This is who I am. Will you leave?"

She nodded and he released her.

"You're not just an overhuman." she murmured when she left.

Then, Sylar pulled back Claire again in front of him. If she could cried, she would have done that but her mouth was still bound together.

As he began to cut her head open, it regenerated immediately. He cursed and then picked up the china pieces. This will be a bit harder than he had thought.

* * *

She wasn't sure about how should she feel because of Micah's situation. He took huge steps and both of them knew that he risked a lot. She remembered the night when D.L. was killed. Just like Micah, he had risked a lot but he knew what was he fighting for. It was a terrible thing that he couldn't win that fight because couldn't get enough help. But now, she was here and was able to help Micah not to fail.

He looked into the computer again and this time, he was prepared that he's going be hit immediately and he was able to defend himself and avoid falling unconscious again. He looked around and saw that the most of the surroundings were glowing in green but there were much less numbers than before therefore it was much darker. Faces of huge, carnivorous lizards appeared around him, some of them formed out of the numbers, some of them just appearing from the dark. If he had been in the real world, he would have felt that lots of eyes were staring a him. In this case, he just knew that the virus was concentrating, focusing on him, trying to figure out how on earth did he manage to stay here after the first attack and what was he after all. He knew what he had to do, he could almost hear softwares and hardwares working, ticking, trying to figure out the error what his presence meant. They couldn't affect him since he was something more than them, not a single program, ready to get overwritten.

The lizards attacked once again but he raised his arm like a shield and defended himself again. He was attacked again and again but he knew that this wasn't his world and managed to stand still. Then, like a professional fighter, as the glowing slowly faded and the lizards were less likely to move and attack, he punched one and after that, many of them. The lizard died, his presence was too much for the virus and it couldn't handle such a new thing.

As he returned to the real world, his mother closed him in her arms.

"I've done it." he whispered. "I want some sleep."

* * *

Someone knocked on the door and disturbed Peter again while he was trying to look and see through the events and persons that were represented by the strings. Nicolai entered the room.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"For what?" asked Peter back.

"We have to move. It's your time. We have to get to Moscow. Together."

"At least, I'll try."

He took Nicolai's hand and thought about the capital of Russia.


	21. Chapter 21:Light up the sky like a flame

**Chapter 21: Light up the sky like a flame**

Dreaming is a part of the human nature. We dream of many things, we desire, we want to be special, different from everyone else, to believe and pretend that there's no one else in the world exactly the same. We dream of flying, of fire, of love, of immortality. And sometimes, when we realize that this dream has come true, it turns to a nightmare, and all we would want to do is to get rid of it, but we can't. Because it is not our nature.

* * *

For several times he had thought that he had succeeded. Unfortunately, so far he hadn't and some scars indicated this very well on his left forearm. He had been suffering for hours and hours with Claire since her head regenerated so rapidly that he couldn't see well enough what he needed. But he didn't release her so he had many opportunities to try and he had realized that he was in need of those. He picked up a piece of china that had already been covered by the stains of his blood. He cut his arm and he felt pain – again pain, what he had become so familiar with and what he hoped will end soon forever. He watched excited as the wound closed rapidly. At last, he thought. Just for checking it, he cut himself once again but the wound healed immediately. If Claire didn't die, it didn't really matter for him. He wasn't hungry for killing, he was just hungry to be more powerful, immortal and maybe the mightiest person on the Earth. If he really got Claire's ability, nobody was able to stop him. This new situation altered his mind and his feelings and made him hungry for risk so he released Claire.

She jumped up, towards Noah's corpse. He expected her to begin to cry but instead she reached for his gun and tried to shoot Sylar. At the first bullet, he stopped it using telekinesis. It was a natural reflex for him. But after that, he let the bullets fly and hit him, as she pulled the trigger many times. He felt the pain but it took just a few seconds for his body to spit out the bullets and become unharmed again. When she saw this, she dropped the gun. She was full of shock and fear.

"Now what?" she asked.

"I don't need you any more. I'm going to look for something else."

"You mean someone else."

He nodded.

"Who was she?" asked Claire. "You didn't kill him so she didn't have an ability."

He shrugged his shoulder.

"Someone who didn't have the courage to face something she didn't understand. That's enough of questions for today. It would be a huge pleasure to see you again."

He flew by her, pushed her away, broke the room's window and flew away, leaving her staring at him and thinking about her next step.

* * *

Peter simply couldn't believe his eyes when he opened them. He remembered when he closed his eyes, hugged Caitlin and in the next moment, they were in a deserted New York. Maybe he just had to loosen his mind. When he concentrated too hard, like when he wanted to go back to save Nathan, he failed and ended somewhere in a totally different time and place. He stared around, watching the Red Square like if it was a world wonder. But if he managed to make his way here, he could have been something like that, too. He looked up and his eyes met Nicolai's ones. Peter got into his head fast – he was wondering about how familiar this place was, the time of his childhood spent in an orphanage, on the streets of Moscow and then... the film in his mind came to an end as he thought that he had dug too deep. He wouldn't do this to someone who had helped him.

Instead, he tried to concentrate on the future – to view another film, another story. He was stopped in mid-air again, Sylar holding him tight. And then, he heard a gunshot.

"What is going to happen here?" asked Peter, wondering.

"I don't know exactly." answered Nicolai. He was much more confident than Peter was. "The only thing I know is that he is heading here. Right now." he added darkly.

And Peter was very concerned about what would happen if he came here. He couldn't imagine his abilities failing again and he couldn't afford that mistake.

* * *

"Lucky the alarm went off in time." said Matt.

"It could have gone luckier." Nathan added. Although the mission was successful, he was concerned and even a bit terrified. He didn't expect Suresh to make a such desperate and dangerous move and nevertheless, he didn't expect the security system to almost let them go away. There was one thing he simply wasn't able to understand: how could Suresh get into the building without getting noticed, down to Rains' cell. After that, it was clear what had happened.

And even through that, Nathan's real concern wasn't the doctor, instead Claude Rains, the invisible man who succeeded in getting away and wasn't found. And more than that, the person who helped them in this action was a far greater thing to worry about. Was it Starnov pulling the strings again? Or was he just getting too paranoid?

"Molly Walker's not a threat until she stays here in sight." Nathan said. " In fact, she could help us a lot."

"I has started the adoption process." interrupted Matt. "And if I become her father legally, I'll want to know about every plan involving her."

"Relax, I don't want to mess up with you. And I want to keep her as far away from the front line as I can. I just need her help, her gift sometimes. The world is getting more and more dangerous." He sighed. "What do you want with Suresh?"

"What do you want with him?"

"Get him stable and let him go wherever he wants. He's persuadable. And he's not indispensable at all. But I'm concerned when attacks like this one can happen."

Matt nodded.

"Just one more talk to him." said Matt, after a short break. "I just want to make him realize the consequences of his actions."

"No mind-mining?" asked Nathan.

"Not at all." he answered, but he seemed to think for a few seconds, considering the idea.

* * *

Monica could hardly imagine that Wiklum, this fragile old man who she had to guard for very long hours, could run and move so fast and look so excited. She had a hard time following him, because her ability didn't really allow her to gain super strength so that she could carry Samuel at the old man's speed. She was afraid sometime when he got out of sight, but after just a few seconds, he turned back, looked at them angrily but actually showed them the way. After a few minutes, she realized that she had known where they were going, not just because she was familiar with the city around them but she knew that they had moved on the same route, a few hours ago when he talked about his challenge and led her to a ghost of a dead person, resting in an abandoned store.

She also had a lot of trouble with Samuel. He was bleeding quite badly and she was afraid that he wouldn't be able to make it to their destination – especially because she didn't know what did Wiklum want to do there.

As they reached the same deserted store building, she thought that things would get a little bit easier. But as Samuel saw the building, he immediately started shouting.

"Why the hell did you bring me here?"

"Why?" Monica asked but Wiklum jumped between them, raising his cane which looked as old as he was, if he was going to hit Samuel. He took a step backwards, slowly sat down and started crying.

"Why did you do this?" Monica shouted as he made Wiklum turn around. In the next moment, she realized that he didn't understand anything so she tried to repeat the question in French.

"_I need time. If I get it, he'll be fine. If I don't, he'll die."_

She still didn't know what was he thinking of but let him go. He sat down in front of the store counter and started singing slowly in a language that Monica couldn't understand. She was wondering what was Wiklum doing when Samuel called out her name.

"My brother." he stammered. "He died in here. We lost our parents a long time ago and he was the last member of my family. We wanted to live a normal life but we didn't have the money to start it, and because we were foreigners we didn't want to raise even more suspicion with our abilities.

"Your brother had an ability, too?" asked Monica.

Samuel nodded curtly but she wasn't able to ask more questions as Wiklum pushed her away and put his hands on Samuel's wound. He began concentrating and singing again, and the wound slowl healing. When he finished, Samuel stood up, now totally healthy. He was shocked.

"Where did you get that ability?" he asked. "That was my brother's one."

Before he could get angry because of Wiklum's silence, Monica interrupted them and tried to translate Samuel's question.

"_Your brother gave it to me as I did what he wanted and brought you here."_

Samuel couldn't believe his ears and that could be seen on his face.

"He has an ability, too." explained Monica. "He can talk with dead people. As you can see, he can also borrow abilities from them."

"_He sees you." _interrupted Wiklum. "_And he's disappointed with you. He doesn't want vengeance. And he knows it's not your nature."_

After Monica had translated for him, he desperately asked.

"What should I do?"

"_Stop it."_

Samuel nodded and turned to Monica.

"Would you come with me? I might need your help."

"Do you know what to do?"

"I don't. But he's right. At least, I must try it. For my brother. War won't bring him back. Unfortunately." he whispered.

"I'm ashamed of myself." he said as they walked out of the store.

* * *

Mohinder was wondering if someone might visit him but wasn't actually happy when he realized who was his visitor. In his heart, he was eager and even a bit desperate to see Kamala, instead Matt opened the door of the hospital room. Well, who else could have he expected?

He didn't know what he should say, instead he tried to think with Matt's head, and while doing that, he couldn't imagine why didn't he receive some penitence. Matt was much more powerful, he had thought that Mohinder was his friend and now he betrayed him. Or at least help someone to harm him pretty badly, and he wasn't thinking about the physical injury. He just wanted Molly to have a safe life but now he realized that he wasn't the right person to give this to her. He wasn't blind enough to do what the company wanted with her and now he was the one who had to suffer. He was weak, trying to fight someone what was bigger than himself.

"Look beside you." whispered Matt.

"I've done it." replied Mohinder immediately and he told the truth. Molly's bed was behind his one as she was also hit by a bullet and fell unconscious. She was still sleeping and although she was far away from danger, she looked so fragile. He remembered the first time when the three of them met. At that time, he tried to defend her from a possibly mortal threat, now he had become a threat like that.

"What do you want with her?" asked Mohinder.

"Giving her a family." The doctor sighed. "What did you expect? You caused great danger for her. She doesn't even trust you any more, I suppose."

"Then why is she lying next to me?"

"Because you are not a real threat." It was a bit calming to hear this from Matt. "But you should tell us who had helped you."

"You might know that the invisible man had hit you."

"I know." interrupted Matt. "But he wasn't alone. Someone brought you down there. Who was that?"

Mohinder gulped.

"Someone who played a huge role in making my decision about her."

"Why do you say it out loudly? I can get in your head."

"I've learned things about this company what made me think about its purpose. It is not as white as you see it. I could tell you things changing your world view. But I don't want you to know about the ghosts of the past. Maybe they won't haunt you, then. If you respect me, you won't try to read it out of my head."

"Shouldn't I know about what has lead you here, to break in a facility like this?"

"I can answer in thousands of words or in one: love."

"I really can't understand you." sighed Matt.

"I won't make any more attempts like this." said Mohinder. "If you need my help, I'll stay here to cure her but after that I'm going back to India. It's an unfortunate thing that an event like this made me realize that I don't want such a dangerous life."

"Luckily the consequences can be corrected." said Matt. "Have a good journey."

* * *

Hiro opened his eyes. The room he was in wasn't like the Yamagato office as he remembered. Everything was white around him but that was all he could see. Soon he realized why – because he didn't have glasses on. He looked for it with his hands and put it up. As he looked around, he knew immediately that he was in a hospital room. But how did he get here?

He looked beside him and saw his sister sitting at his bed, almost asleep.

"_Kimiko."_ he said quietly.

As she heard her name, she slowly opened her eyes. She wore the same dirty clothes in which she was kept in Ozaki's prison. She smiled but he couldn't smile back.

"_At last you woke up." _she said.

"_I wish I wouldn't." _he murmured.

"_Why?" _she asked.

"_How did I get here?"_

"_You fell when we got into the office. The doctors say it's post-traumatic shock or I don't know. The main thing is that you're getting healthier."_

"_If I was a samurai, I wouldn't deserve life. I should commit seppuku." _he said darkly.

She laid her hand on his shoulder.

"_I failed. I abandoned you." _he said.

"_How could you say that? You came to me in the first moment."_

"_But I could and I should have rescued you. I should have used my ability wiser."_

Her voice got quieter and soon it changed to a whisper.

"_If you could do these things, I totally understand why did our father paid so much attention for you. You used your gift as wise as you could."_

"_No, I didn't."_ argued Hiro. "_I failed to rescue you and I dishonored our family. We got into the hands of the family's sworn enemies. Our father's attention was vain."_

"_No, it wasn't. We are still Kimiko and Hiro Nakamura, one of Japan's mightiest people. And we'll help justice win this battle."_

Hiro wished if he could be so optimistic and that justice really won. He didn't if there was any justice for him. How could these villains be caught? They can get out from every trap. And they couldn't even tell the police about that because they sounded crazy.

And most of all, he wasn't sure if he could accept the role of a businessman, an ordinary person without any special ability. A role which he had desperately tried to escape from.

* * *

After a few minutes what seemed just walking around without any exact destination to target, Samuel turned round and led Monica out to the suburbs of New Orleans. She was thinking about his plan much but she decided not to ask him. Although, she realized soon that they are heading to locations what were full of gang members and opportunities to find them – if anyone was so silly to do that. Samuel climbed down to the sewer and she followed him a bit disgusted. They walked quite a long distance and climbed up near a site what was abandoned by many years. It wasn't a popular meeting place even before this since it was actually a junkyard.

"Why here?" she asked.

"Because there are many things to shoot." he answered darkly.

"I don't get it."

"Gang members come here often to practice shooting. And mostly, they are alone. Come on, let's hide."

They didn't have to wait a lot, after about ten minutes of silence, a young guy wearing red clothes with gang symbols appeared. Although he didn't seem much older than Monica, a small gun was in his hand.

"Restrain him somehow, please." he whispered.

"You also did this when you were alone." she replied angrily. She didn't want to get used, even by him.

He shrugged his shoulder.

"It would have been easier if you helped me." In a few moments, he disappeared in the surrounding junk. She waited for anything to happen. After a short time, he jumped out of the junk and grabbed the gangster's head with the palms of his hands. His mouth moved but she didn't understand what was he saying so she also came out from the junk.

"No more war." he hissed. It was quite similar to Wiklum's singing. "You will never attack anyone else. Even if your life is in danger. No more attacks, no more war. Spread peace..."

A gunshot interrupted him. Monica turned round and saw another gang member, dressed in green, pointing his gun on Samuel and changing his target to her fast. She dropped, rolled aside so that she was covered by the brainwashed gangster. She felt something cold at her shoulder while he fired two other shots. It was the first guy's gun. She reacted instinctively. As she heard another shot, she jumped aside and fired two shots towards the gangster. The bullets hit him, so he dropped the gun and collapsed. As she got sure that their attacker won't get up soon, she climbed to Samuel. He was wounded much harder than the first time this day. The bullet got into his chest which was bleeding heavily.

"The war will end soon." he rattled as Monica took his dusty head into her hands. "Without me, there's no source."

"But how will it stop? And what about you? It's not a one-person job."

"They'll kill each other. No source."

"And what about you?" she asked as she, trying to pull him away, to get him to Wiklum as fast as she could. Now was the time when she really started to realize what had happened.

"Don't worry about me." rattled Samuel. "I'm with family." And he closed his eyes.

* * *

Mohinder got better very fast. A few hours after waking up and talking to Matt Parkman, he could get put of bed as the drugs rushed out of his body. He was alone with Molly, only disturbed by nurses at just a few times. Sometimes he thought that this was intentional: they wanted to have a look at her, watching the slow process of her recovery. The only thing they couldn't imagine was that what kind of a torture was this to him. Despite what he had done in the past, he loved Molly, and it hurt him that he couldn't show any sign of this to her. Even instead.

He went to bed with strange feelings, he was ashamed and yet sure about his feelings and what were the reasons of his actions. He just drove on a dangerous path and maybe this was his only weakness. He was a bit too altruistic, he wanted to help too many people. As he closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep, he heard a whisper, calling out his name. As he opened his eyes again, two people were standing beside here bed: Kamala and Claude Rains.

"Why did you come here?" he asked, shocked.

"Because I'm sure about what I should do." she whispered.

"You've put yourself in great danger." he replied.

"Just like you did when you jumped in front of me. You couldn't even know what were they using." She took a deep breath. "I've told you what do I feel. I think it's up to you know."

He slowly sat up and kissed her.

"You lot seem quite sure about what you're doing." interrupted Claude.

"What are you going to do?" asked Mohinder and Kamala at the same time.

"It's not really about me. There's some mess I've made. I have to deal with things my way."

Mohinder thought he didn't really want to know what that meant.ű

"And what are you going to do?" asked Claude. "He's goddamn right, you both are in danger here."

They looked at each other and he thought that he saw something, a small flame lighting in her eyes which reminded him at his dream before he met her.

"I think I will go back to India. Taking up my job at the university."

"Say we." Kamala added. "I won't leave you."

They turned to each other again and the flame in her eyes was clearly to be seen.

"We don't have much time." warned them Claude. "We must get out before they find out that we were here. You should meet again in Madras."

She looked at Claude and nodded. Then, she turned back to Mohinder.

"I'll wait for you there."

* * *

"You have told me it's my time." whispered Peter to Nicolai. They had been sitting on a simple bench in Moscow for many hours and he was getting bored and frightened as it was slowly getting dark. Nicolai wouldn't actually have said a word if he hadn't been asked, which Peter didn't manage too many times. He was silently watching around like he saw something Peter didn't.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't tell the exact time. But he'll be here, I'm sure of that."

"You're sure?" he asked, intrigued. "And aren't you afraid? Or I could ask, are you mad or something?"

He just shrugged his shoulder.

"You know that I'm going to face a serial killer and I'm not sure if I can use my abilities!"

"You'll be able to." he answered calmly.

"And what if he sneaks around and cuts my head down before I could do anything?"

For the first time, Nicolai turned to him and looked in his eyes but he didn't say anything. He just looked completely confident about what was going to happen.

In the next moment, he began shouting as he was pushed away by an invisible force.

Peter jumped up and turned around, just to face his nemesis.

"Hi, then." Sylar said quietly. He was smiling grimly. "Familiar situation, isn't it?"

Before Peter could move, he grabbed his throat with telekinesis and slowly began to cut his forehead. Peter realized he had nothing to lose. He tried to concentrate and to break free from Sylar's choke. He looked like he was fighting hard to hold back Peter's efforts. Finally, Peter managed to get free, he released himself. He didn't know how much time did he spend strangled but he was sweating heavily and drops of blood dropped from his head to the ground. At all, he was alive. He looked up at Sylar, and he saw his grim smile but with a small bit of disappointment. Before he could attack again, Peter fought back, firing all of his anger towards him in a huge telekinetic blast what blew a hole in his chest.

Finally, Sylar was dead, he thought and that he was going to watch him bleed out in front of his eyes.

But suddenly, he began to regenerate rapidly and in a few moments, he was standing again, looking as healthy as he could.

"You see." he hissed. "You can't kill me but you can help me a lot. If I had your ability, I wouldn't have to kill so much."

"Damn you!" he shouted and he fired a jolt of lightning against him. He wanted to see Sylar die and he intended to make that happen. After a few moments of pain he flew up. Peter suddenly realized what he was doing. He wondered who had he killed to gain this ability and the first person with this ability came to his mind: Nathan. He possibly had another reason to kill this bastard and it was vengeance. He flew up, after Sylar and fired many lightning bolts towards him but he couldn't hit him. Suddenly, Sylar turned down and landed on the ground of the square. Peter rushed after him but he was stopped in mid-air like he had seen it before. Sylar grabbed him with his telekinesis and he had to fight again but this time he was angrier and more tired.

"Let it go." Sylar said. "If your abilities work, you won't suffer a lot and you won't die after all. Just like Claire hadn't."

"After what you have done to all of us?" Peter shouted as he remembered the people he had killed. And the pain he had caused for everyone.

"I'm not going to regret that. It was natural."

"Sonofabitch." hissed Peter.

Suddenly, someone shot a gun and hit Sylar in his chest. Slowly, he looked down waiting for the wound to regenerate but it didn't. He looked down and saw that his pure chest was bleeding again. He concentrated on the healing process but it didn't have any use. He fell on his knees and dropped Peter when losing his consciousness. He wasn't able to gulp, instead he spat some blood on the ground. Two other shots roared into the night and his head blew away. As Peter got up he saw Nicolai holding a gun in his hand.

"How did you do that?" he asked, terribly surprised.

"Like I'll do this." He raised the gun and shot Peter's knees.

Peter fell to the ground, beside Sylar's dead body.

"What?" he stammered as tears rushed in his eyes.

"I've never told you my true ability, Peter Petrelli." His voice was full of hate and disgust now. "I can gain control over others' abilities, making them stop or forcing them to use it."

"Why?" cried Peter. He tried to fire lightning towards Nicolai but he was right. He wasn't able to do anything. He didn't even regenerate. Just like Sylar before. Except, his hands were beginning to glow as Nicolai took over his radioactive ability.

"Because your family slaughtered mine. That's all. And now, you're becoming an instrument of my vengeance." His voice was raising slowly. "I was the one who killed your brother at the press conference, and I even managed to kill your mother in your own home. But I needed you, this was your fate. I couldn't let you around me with your abilities, so I suppressed them. But now, I need you and your ability to wipe out this whole city."

Now, Peter was concentrating to stop going nuclear again. But there was no use.

"And now, I'm going away, unharmed, to accomplish my further plans." As he was speaking, his voice was getting slowly quieter as he got further from Peter.

He looked up to the sky. He was used again. Used by Nicolai, just like he had been used by Adam Monroe. The difference was, that he managed to help the evil side to win. He was a much more dangerous villain than Adam was.

He looked up to the sky again, at the stars. Sometimes, he saw some small light bursts around him. He remembered the Kirby Plaza accident. He remembered that Nathan was there for him. But now, he was alone and there was no help. His only escape way, the stars and the dark sky was locked away from him. He focused for the final time before blowing up and accidentally killing millions of people.

As he was surrounded by heat and light, he could feel that his feet were leaving the ground.

**End of Volume Three**

* * *

**Volume Four: Crisis Course**

Claire was surrounded by a lot of heavy books. She had a difficult time adapting to the university life and stuff. Especially that she attended to a medical university and naturally, one of the more difficult ones.

But now, she was concentrating on the phone, although he should have learned.

"As I've told you." she said angrily. "I am finished with the Company." She listened for a while.

"You might understand what has happened to me. I've lost my father because of your purposes and your mission, whatever you call that. All I want to do is to live a normal life, without being hunted. Like everyone else. Like an ordinary student. As Claire Horner."

Someone knocked on the door. She went to the door, looked out and opened it.

"Sorry, I've got to go." she said. She put down her cell phone, dropped it to her bed and turned to her guest.


End file.
